As the causes of Kawasaki disease remain unknown, the illness is more accurately referred to as Kawasaki syndrome. Its cause is widely hypothesized to involve the interaction of genetic and environmental factors, possibly including an infection in combination with genetic predisposition to an autoimmune mechanism. The specific cause is unknown,but current theories center primarily on immunological causes. Evidence increasingly points to an infectious cause, but debate continues on whether the cause is a conventional antigenic substance or a superantigen. Other data show a clear correlation between Kawasaki disease and tropospheric wind patterns; winds blowing from central Asia correlate with Kawasaki disease cases in Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego.This association with tropospheric winds has been shown to be modulated at seasonal and interannual timescales by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon,further indicating the agent responsible for the disease is a wind-borne pathogen. Efforts are underway to identify the suspected pathogen in air-filters flown at altitude above Japan.