Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic response, was hospitalized earlier this month with the West Nile virus (WNV), a spokesperson for Fauci tells Fox News.
Fauci, 83, was hospitalized before he returned home where he is now recovering, the spokesperson says.
The nation’s former top infectious-disease official is expected to make a full recovery from the virus, which is most commonly spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fauci was in hospital for six days.
The virus first entered the U.S. in 1999, and it has become the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the country, per the CDC.
Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea or rash, although a vast majority — around 80% — of the people who contract WNV will not experience any symptoms. There are no vaccines or treatments for the virus.
In most cases, the virus is spread when Culex mosquitoes bite infected birds and then bite people and other animals, per the CDC’s website. More than 1,800 people were hospitalized with the virus last year in the U.S., leading to 182 deaths, per CDC data.
Fauci was the former director of the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and was a leading figure on both former President Trump and President Biden’s coronavirus response teams. Before his retirement, he had worked for over 50 years in the American public health sector, advising every president since former President Reagan.
Additionally, Fauci also said there wasn’t a controlled trial conducted justifying a six-foot social distancing rule and he defended vaccine mandates for students, employees and the military by stating, “Vaccines save lives. It is very, very clear that vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions worldwide.”
“In the beginning, it clearly prevented infection in a certain percentage of people but the durability of its ability to prevent infection was not long. It was measured in months,” he added.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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