Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s spokesman for the coronavirus response, was hospitalized after contracting the West Nile virus and is currently recovering at home.
The immunologist and former chief medical adviser to the president was hospitalized about 11 days ago with a mosquito-borne illness and developed fever, chills and fatigue.
He was discharged from hospital earlier this week and is expected to make a full recovery Reported by BBC US media partner CBS.
Dr. Fauci, 83, told CBS he likely contracted the virus from a mosquito bite in his garden.
Most people infected with West Nile virus don’t feel sick, but about one in five people develop symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. public health agency.
The CDC says the virus is transmitted to humans when mosquitoes bite infected birds and then bite humans.
There is currently no vaccine against the 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 has previously stated He and his family received death threats 24/7 security is now required.
He has been criticized by some for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Leading immunologists are dragged before congress Earlier this year, Republican politicians accused him of trying to cover up indirect U.S. funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a laboratory some believe is located in China and may have been linked to the emergence of Covid-19.
Dr. Fauci called the accusations false and said they were politically motivated because of his public disagreements with former President Trump at the height of the pandemic.
