Anthony Fauci recovering at home after hospitalization for West Nile virus

Dr. Anthony Fauci is recovering from a West Nile virus infection.

On Saturday, August 24, a spokesman for the 83-year-old former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said: The Washington Post that he was hospitalized but is now recovering at home.

“A full recovery is expected,” the spokesman said in a statement.

The post reported that an insider close to Fauci said he was unsure how he contracted the virus and was hospitalized for six days.

Dr. Jonathan LaPook, chief medical correspondent for CBS News, posted on X that he had spoken to Fauci, who told him he was hospitalized about 10 days ago and developed “fever, chills and severe fatigue.”

“The investigation revealed that he had contracted West Nile virus, probably from a mosquito bite in his yard,” LaPook wrote. “He left the hospital three days ago and is recovering at home.”

LaPook also said, “The prognosis is a full recovery.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), West Nile virus is often transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito (or sometimes through birds). It is common in the United States and other parts of the world. Symptoms of the virus may include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, or rashes.

Although there is no vaccine for West Nile virus, the CDC explains that you can prevent contracting the disease by using bug spray, wearing long-sleeved clothing or long pants when mosquitoes are present, and taking steps to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home.

Fauci served at the NIH for more than four decades, advising on policy development to combat HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, avian flu, swine flu, Zika, and Ebola. Over the course of his career, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, and 62 honorary doctorates.

He rose to prominence in 2020 through his work as an advisor to the public and then-President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He retired in 2023 and, according to PEOPLE, he now serves as a Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University and has a joint appointment at the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy.

Speaking to PEOPLE in July about his new memoir, On call: The path of a doctor in public serviceHe spoke candidly about what he has learned over his decades-long career, as well as the American public's changing attitudes toward science and public health.

“I'm not naive,” he told PEOPLE at the time. “I'm aware of the destructive nature of the anti-science sentiment that has grown in society in recent years.” He added that the problem “did not start with the Trump administration,” although it “got a big boost from the Trump administration.”

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“I am still a cautious optimist and believe that there is a better angel inside each of us who emerges,” he explained.

“And when people really start to understand that we are much more alike than we are different, we will move away from this vitriol and hatred, because it is unsustainable,” Fauci added. “And even if you are one of the vitriolic ones, you have to realize deep down that that is not the solution. It just isn't.”