Fauci hospitalized with West Nile Virus

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci was hospitalized after getting infected with the potentially deadly West Nile virus. He has left the hospital and is now getting home treatment.  

Fauci, 83, who was the longtime appointed director for NIAID and perhaps the best-known medical figure for spearheading the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to make a full recovery from the virus.

The virus typically spreads through mosquito bites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms of the virus include headaches, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and a rash. However, many people do not ever see any symptoms, up to 80 percent of cases. There are no vaccines or treatments for the virus.  

The virus is usually spread when Culex mosquitoes bite infected birds which can then spread to people as well as animals if they are bitten. Over 1,800 people last year were hospitalized with the virus, leading to 182 deaths, per Fox News. 

Before Fauci left the Biden-Harris administration, he had worked for 50 years in the public health sector and advised every president since Ronald Reagan. Amid the rise and fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has also found himself mired in controversy over measures he helped to implement, such as using six feet as a benchmark for social distancing. Earlier this year, he said that the rule "sort of appeared" and that he did not see any science to back it up when it was implemented. 

Additionally, in a closed-door congressional meeting when he was asked about studies showing children’s learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, "I believe that there are a lot of conflicting studies too, that there are those that say, yes, there is an impact, and there are those that say there’s not. I still think that’s up in the air."