Anthony Fauci recovering at home after hospitalization for West Nile virus

Anthony Fauci is recovering at home from a West Nile virus infection, a spokesperson told news outlets on Saturday.

The former head of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease was hospitalized for six days with the virus. Fauci, 83, is expected to make a full recovery.

“Tony Fauci has been hospitalized with a case of West Nile virus. He is now home and is recovering. A full recovery is expected,” a spokesperson told multiple outlets.

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Fauci retired from his role at the NIH in 2022 after achieving widespread recognition for his role in public health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. He now serves as a distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine.

Despite his retirement from the NIH, House Republicans in June called Fauci for a heated hearing about his response to Covid-19. Republican lawmakers accused Fauci of covering up the origins of the virus. Fauci said the claims were “simply preposterous”.

Fauci told Congress at the time that he and his family still receive death threats. In 2022, a man was sentenced to three years in federal prison after sending a series of emails threatening Fauci and his family.

The West Nile virus is often transferred to humans through mosquito bites and is non-symptomatic for 80% of those who are infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in five who are infected develop fever and other symptoms, including body aches, diarrhea and rash. About 1,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus each year.

While there are no vaccines or treatments for the virus, the CDC recommends protective measures like using insect repellant to avoid contracting the virus. It is mostly spread during the warmer months in the summer and early fall.

A study published in April that looked at the blood samples of 250 people who went to the hospital in 2020 and 2021 for other reasons found that nearly 20% of the samples had antibodies for the virus.

• This article was amended on 24 August 2024. Anthony Fauci was the head of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.