(GoRealNewsNow.com) – Controversial Dr. Anthony Fauci was hospitalized with West Nile virus and spent nearly a week in the hospital before continuing his recovery at home.
A spokesperson said that the 83-year-old former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) contracted the mosquito-borne virus but is expected to make a full recovery.
Fauci, who led NIAID for four decades, provided guidance to both GOP nominee Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic before retiring in 2022.
“Tony Fauci has been hospitalized with a case of West Nile virus. He is now home and is recovering. A full recovery is expected,” the spokesperson said.
West Nile virus, which first appeared in the U.S. in 1999, has become the leading cause of mosquito-borne illness.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes. However, about 80% of those infected do not show any symptoms, and there are no vaccines or specific treatments for the virus.
In 2020, Fauci became a prominent figure in the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, facing significant criticism from Republican lawmakers for his views on the virus’s origins and for his policies on masks, vaccines, and lockdowns.
During a January hearing before the House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Fauci acknowledged that some COVID-19 restrictions might not have been grounded in data or science but rather “sort of just appeared.”
“After two days of testimony and 14 hours of questioning, many things became evident,” said Republican Ohio Representative Brad Wenstrup, Chairman of the subcommittee.
He continued, “During his interview today, Dr. Fauci claimed that the policies and mandates he promoted may unfortunately increase vaccine hesitancy for years to come. He testified that the lab leak hypothesis — which was often suppressed — was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory.”
Furthermore, Wenstrup underscored that the social distancing recommendations forced on Americans ‘sort of just appeared’ and were not likely based on scientific data.
Despite this, Fauci had previously dismissed lab leak theories as conspiracy, even though the Biden administration reportedly closed a State Department inquiry in 2021 that was investigating the virus’s origins.
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