fouchy hospitalized after testing positive for West Nile Virus now recovering at home Dr Anthony fouchy the public face of the US Corona virus pandemic response was hospitalized earlier this month with the westn virus wnv a spokesperson for fouchy tells Fox News fouchi 83 was hospitalized before he returned home where he is now recovering the spokesperson says the nation's former top infectious disease official is expected to make a full recovery from the virus which is most commonly spread through the bite of an infected mosquito according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention CDC fouchi was in hospital for 6 days the virus first entered the US in 1999 and it has become the leading cause of mosquito born disease in the country per the CDC symptoms include fever headache body aches vomiting diarrhea or rash although a vast majority around 80% of the people who contract WMV will not experience any symptoms there are no vaccines or treatments for the virus in most cases the virus is spread when clex mosquitoes bite infected birds and then bite people and other animals for the cdc's website more than 1,800 people were hospitalized with the virus last year in the US leading to 182 deaths per CDC data fouchi was the former director of the National Institution of allergy and infectious disease niid and was a leading figure on both former president Trump and President Biden's Corona virus response teams before his retirement he had worked for over 50 years in the American public health sector advising every president since former President Reagan fouchi was a regular guest on cable news Primetime television late night shows and podcasts offering his medical advice throughout the pandemic over time he became a politically divisive figure on the left and right regarding issues such as masks lockdown policies and the origins of covid-19 dot famously he sparred with Senator ran Paul Republican Kentucky in committee hearings over the origins of the co9 pandemic and whether his Department within the National Institute of Health funded gain of function research Paul has claimed that government officials from 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that the Wuhan Institute of virology was trying to create a Corona virus like covid-19 these officials Paul says knew that the Chinese lab was proposing to create a covid-19 like virus and not one of those officials revealed this scheme to the public in June he denied attempting to suppress the theory that the covid-19 pandemic began as a result of a lab leak in Wuhan China during his testimony before the house oversight select subcommittee on the Corona virus pandemic the subcommittee reviewed classified State Department Records that members say credibly suggest covid-19 originated from a lated accident in Wuhan China and that the Chinese Communist Party attempted to cover up the lab leak additionally fouchi also said there wasn't a controll trial conducted justifying a 6-foot social distancing Rule and he defended vaccine mandates for students employees and the military by stating vaccines save lives it is very very very clear that vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions worldwide in the beginning it clearly prevented infection in a certain percentage of people but the durability of its ability to prevent infection was not long it was measured in months he added