"Autoimmune diseases, which are the third leading cause of morbidity in the industrialised world, afflict tens of millions in the United States. The idea that viruses can trigger autoimmunity in those with genetic predisposition through molecular mimicry has been simmering for a while. Viruses have been shown to have the potential to play a role in provoking and modifying the clinical manifestations of several auto-immune diseases, such as coxsackie virus in type 1 diabetes, coronaviruses in rheumatoid arthritis, and Epstein–Barr Virus in systemic autoimmune diseases. However, obtaining conclusive evidence of a connection between viral infection and subsequent autoimmune diseases is challenging, not only because it is frequently impossible to extract the virus from diseased tissues, but also because the collection of sufficient amounts of epidemiological evidence is constrained by lengthy process and geographic distances."