Dr. Anthony Fauci, 83, was hospitalized for about a week after contracting West Nile virus earlier this month and has been recovering at home since, an agency spokesman said.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was infected with the mosquito-borne disease but is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesman said. said Fox News. The top COVID-19 response official ran NIAID for 40 years and retired in 2022 after advising the administrations of both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden during the pandemic. (RELATED: Republican lawmakers play audio of Dr. Fauci pushing to make people's lives “harder” to get vaccinated)
“Tony Fauci was hospitalized with West Nile Virus. He is now home and recovering. He is expected to make a full recovery,” the spokesperson said. said.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 3: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on June 3, 2024. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
West Nile virus has been a leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the United States since it first arrived in 1999. According to According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea and rash, although about 80% of infected people experience no symptoms.
According to the CDC, there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus.
In 2020, Fauci became the public face of the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers for his views on the origins of COVID-19 and his implementation of mask and vaccine mandates and lockdown policies. (RELATED: Dr. Fauci acknowledges social distancing rules 'came out of nowhere,' says COVID subcommittee chair)
Testifying before the House Oversight Committee's Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 at a January hearing, Fauci acknowledged that COVID-19-era restrictions likely weren't based on data or science and “just emerged in some sense.”
“After two days of testimony and 14 hours of questioning, a lot has become clear,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, who chairs the subcommittee. statement Following the hearing, Dr. Fauci said, “In an interview today, Dr. Fauci argued that unfortunately the policies and mandates he promoted may increase vaccine hesitancy for years to come. He testified that the oft-covered lab leak claim is not, in fact, a conspiracy theory. Additionally, the social distancing recommendations forced upon Americans 'just appeared' and are likely not based on scientific data.”
The former COVID-19 adviser has repeatedly denied the lab leak claim as a conspiracy, even as the Biden administration reportedly dropped a State Department investigation into the virus' origins in 2021.
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