Fauci tests positive for West Nile virus leading to hospitalization | 24 Aug 2024 | 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 U.S., 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. [Hopefully, Fauci's treatment consists of a full course of Remdesivir, and may the odds be forever in our favor.]