Dr. Anthony Fauci recovers from West Nile virus infection

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former government scientist who has been both praised and criticized for his work on COVID-19, was recently hospitalized with West Nile virus and is recovering at home, a spokeswoman for the doctor said.

“He is expected to make a full recovery,” spokeswoman Jenn Kuzmuk said in a statement Sunday on behalf of Dr. Fauci, 83, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

She did not provide details about where or how long he was in the hospital.

Dr. Jonathan LaPook, CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent, shared on social media that Dr. Fauci told him he had a fever, chills and severe fatigue and that he was hospitalized this month. Dr. Fauci said he most likely got the infection from a mosquito bite he got in his backyard, Dr. LaPook said.

West Nile virus is most commonly spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the CDC, humans become infected with the virus when mosquitoes feed on infected birds and then bite humans.

“Humans are considered deadly hosts because, unlike birds, they do not produce high enough levels of the virus in their bloodstream and cannot pass it on to other biting mosquitoes,” the agency says on its website.

Cases of West Nile occur mainly during mosquito season, which begins in summer and lasts until fall. Symptoms can include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash.

At least 216 cases of West Nile virus have been detected in 33 states this year, According to the CDC There are no vaccines to prevent or cure West Nile virus in humans. The best prevention against the virus is to avoid mosquito bites.

Dr. Fauci, a former chief medical adviser to President Biden who was praised as the nation’s top infectious disease expert, retired in December 2022 from his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, after 38 years.

As the public face of American government science for decades, Dr. Fauci has advised seven presidents and led the country’s response to infectious disease outbreaks from AIDS to COVID-19.

Dr. Fauci joined the staff of Georgetown University last year as a distinguished university professor at his medical school.

In June, testifying before a House of Representatives committee investigating the origins of COVID-19, he denied Republican accusations that he helped fund the research that led to the pandemic or that he covered up the possibility that it originated in a lab.