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Fauci tests positive for West Nile virus leading to hospitalization as America's former top doctor gives update
Anthony Fauci was hospitalized for six days this month after being infected with the potentially deadly West Nile Virus.
Fauci, the former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is now back at home getting treatment.
Fauci, 83, who served on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesperson told CNN.
The West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-spread disease in the continental US, with a median of over 2,200 cases being reported every year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
About 1,000 people are hospitalized each year with the most severe form of the disease, which if it spreads to the brain and nervous system, can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death with a 3-15 percent mortality rate.
There is no specific treatment for the virus or vaccine, but 80 percent of cases are mild, where sufferers may experience flu-like symptoms or rashes.
The most likely time to contract the virus is in August and September, during the height of mosquito season.
Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, contracted the West Nile virus but is expected to fully recover
The West Nile virus is spread through mosquitos. The most serious cases can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death
As of August 20, there have been 216 West Nile virus cases in the US across 33 states, according to a CDC tracker.
About 65 percent of the total caseload have been reported to be neuro-invasive.
As early as June, scientists were seeing a much greater number of West Nile virus cases than usual, leading to serious alarm.
Fauci himself addressed the West Nile virus back in 2004, when he was still NIAID director.
Responding to a question from someone on the online 'Ask the White House' forum, he wrote that the best way to prevent the virus is through mosquito control.
He added that there were 'a number of promising candidates' for a vaccine, but there remains no cure or inoculation for the virus over twenty years after he made this statement.
In June, Fauci testified front of Congress to better explain the government's response to Covid.
Fauci told Republicans the six-foot social distancing rule 'sort of just appeared' and that he did not recall how it came about.
He added he 'was not aware of studies' that supported social distancing.
Fauci also conceded that Covid-19, which has killed a total of more than 1.2 million Americans, could have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.
'I keep an open mind as to what the origin is,' he said.
Fauci is pictured testifying in front of the House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, 2024
Meanwhile, there is another mosquito-borne illness that's been wreaking havoc in a Massachusetts town.
The Board of Health in Oxford, a city of 13,300 people about 50 miles southwest of Boston, has set an outdoor curfew in hopes it will reduce the chances of people being bitten by mosquitoes which carry Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).
A resident in the small town contracted the rare and untreatable illness - also known as 'Triple E' - marking the first time an American has been infected domestically in nearly four years.
Similar to the West Nile virus, Triple E causes a fever and brain swelling.
One-third of people infected with EEE die and those who recover are often left with lifelong physical and mental difficulties.
The dusk curfew, which falls around 8 pm in Massachusetts, is only a recommendation - not a rule - but town officials are hoping it will push people inside before peak mosquito hours, reducing risk of exposure.
While not a requirement, the local school district will be enforcing the curfew, meaning after-school programs and sports may be canceled, ended early or moved indoors.