Tracking more than 10 million US military personnel over a 20-year period, the landmark findings indicate EBV infection leads to a 32-fold increased risk of developing MS.For decades researchers have suspected the neurological disease MS may be triggered by a viral infection. Just last year a pair of studies identified strong associations between hospital-diagnosed infections before the age of 20 and MS diagnoses after the age of 20. In particular, the research pointed to a distinct link between MS and infectious mononucleosis, also known as glandular fever, a disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.