USA US immunologist Fauci infected with West Nile fever

The internationally renowned US immunologist Anthony Fauci has been infected with the West Nile virus. The 83-year-old was treated in hospital for six days and is now recovering at home, CNN and the New York Times quoted a spokesperson for Fauci. "A full recovery is expected," it said.

Decades of expertise in infection research

Fauci stepped down as Chief Medical Advisor to the US President and Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases almost two years ago. Prior to this, he had become a central figure in the fight against the coronavirus in the USA. The renowned scientist headed the National Institute of Infectious Diseases for almost four decades and worked under a total of seven US presidents.

He is considered one of the outstanding experts on infectious diseases in the USA. He is known far beyond the circles of science and the American borders. In the highly politically charged debate about the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci was regularly the target of criticism and hostility.

Viral disease is usually harmless

The West Nile virus originally comes from Africa and is transmitted by mosquitoes. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), most infections are asymptomatic, with around 20 percent of those infected developing a feverish, flu-like illness lasting a few days and around one in a hundred developing meningitis. There is currently no protective vaccination for humans.

The virus was first detected in Germany in 2018 and in a human for the first time in 2019. There are regular detections in eastern Germany in particular, and experts expect it to spread further as a result of climate change. There have been major outbreaks in southern and south-eastern European countries for years.