Anthony Fauci, the face of the U.S. government’s response to the Covid pandemic, is recovering at home after being hospitalized with the West Nile virus.
The immunologist and former chief medical adviser to the president was hospitalized with the mosquito-borne illness about 11 days ago and was suffering from fever, chills and fatigue.
He was released from hospital earlier this week and is expected to make a full recovery, the spokesman said. CBS, the BBC’s US media partner, reports.
Dr. Fauci, 83, told CBS he likely contracted the virus from a mosquito bite in his backyard.
Most people infected with West Nile virus do not feel sick, but about one in five develop symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. public health agency.
The virus spreads to humans when mosquitoes bite infected birds and then bite humans, the CDC says.
There is currently no vaccine against this virus. In rare cases, it can be fatal.
Dr. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, retired from public service in 2022.
He already said that he and his family receive death threats and now require 24-hour security.
He has faced criticism from some over his handling of the Covid pandemic.
The leading immunologist was dragged before Congress earlier this year by Republican politicians over accusations that he tried to cover up indirect U.S. funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab in China that some believe may be linked to the emergence of COVID-19.
Dr. Fauci has called the allegations false and said they were politically motivated because of his public disagreements with former President Donald Trump at the height of the pandemic.
