Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News that he is recuperating at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus.
Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and longtime public health official who led the U.S. coronavirus response, said Saturday that he had been hospitalized about 10 days ago after suffering from fever, chills and severe fatigue.
Fauci said he was released from the hospital three days ago and is expected to make a full recovery at home.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Nile virus is spread primarily by mosquitoes. It’s the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental US, and it spreads during mosquito season in the summer and fall. Fauci said he likely contracted the virus from a mosquito bite in his backyard.
There is no vaccine to prevent West Nile virus or medicine to treat its symptoms, but most people who are infected don’t feel sick, according to the CDC. About one in five people who are infected develop symptoms, including a fever. About one in 150 people who are infected develop a “severe, sometimes fatal” illness, the CDC said.
According to the CDC, about 216 cases of West Nile virus have been reported this year in 33 states.
Another mosquito-borne virus is dengue fever, which US health officials recently warned doctors to be on the lookout for. Cases this year Breaking international records. Puerto Rico is experiencing a dengue outbreak, as are many Latin American countries, and limited localized virus spread has been reported in Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, and California.
