Anthony Fauci was hospitalized with the deadly West Nile virus.
Fauci, the former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is now recovering and returning home.
Fauci, 83, who served on the White House’s coronavirus task force, is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesman told CNN.
West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the Americas, with an average of 2,200 cases reported each year. Department of Health and Human Services.
About 1,000 people are hospitalized each year with the most severe disease, which can spread to the brain and nervous system, causing brain swelling, brain damage and death with a mortality rate of 3-15 percent.
There is no specific treatment for the virus or a vaccine, but 80 percent of cases are mild, and sufferers may experience flu-like symptoms or a rash.
August and September, when the mosquito season is at its peak, are the most likely to be infected with the virus.
Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, contracted West Nile virus but is expected to make a full recovery.
West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. More severe cases can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death
As of August 20, there were 216 West Nile virus cases in 33 states in the United States, according to the CDC tracker.
About 65 percent of the total caseload is reported to be neuro-invasive.
In early June, scientists saw a higher-than-usual number of West Nile virus cases, prompting heightened alarm.
Fauci addressed the West Nile virus in 2004 when he was NIAID director.
Responding to a question from someone on the online ‘Ask the White House’ forum, he wrote that controlling mosquitoes is the best way to prevent the virus.
‘ he added.Many promising candidatesfor a vaccine, but in the more than twenty years since he made this statement there has been no cure or vaccine for the virus.
In June, Fauci testified before Congress to better explain the government’s response to Covid.
Fauci told Republicans the six-foot social distancing rule ‘just came up’ and he doesn’t remember how it came about.
He added that he was ‘not aware of any studies’ that supported social distancing.
Fauci also acknowledged that Covid-19, which has killed more than 1.2 million Americans in total, may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.
I keep an open mind as to what is indigenous, he said.
Fauci is pictured testifying before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, 2024.
Meanwhile, another mosquito-borne disease has wreaked havoc in a Massachusetts town.
The board of health in Oxford, a city of 13,300 people about 50 miles southwest of Boston, has instituted an outdoor curfew in hopes of reducing the chances of people being bitten by mosquitoes that carry eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
A small-town resident contracted the rare and untreatable disease — also known as ‘Triple E’ — in the first domestic case of an American in nearly four years.
Like West Nile virus, triple E causes fever and brain swelling.
About one-third of people with EEE die and those who recover often suffer lifelong physical and mental difficulties.
Massachusetts’ 8 p.m. dusk curfew is only a recommendation — not a rule — but city officials hope it will push people inside before peak mosquito hours, reducing the risk of exposure.
Although not required, the local school district may enforce a curfew, meaning after-school programs and sports may be canceled, ended early, or moved indoors.
