Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is calling for greater international cooperation for vaccine development against mosquito-borne West Nile virus following what he described as a “harrowing experience” with infection this summer.

Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said he feared he would never “return to normal” after he contracted West Nile virus. Fauci, who served as the face of the Trump and Biden

Although mosquitos might not be flying around right now, West Nile virus peaks at the end of the summer and early fall. Spread through mosquito bites, symptoms can range from a mild headache to disorientation.

Since Aug. 7, 16 Suffolk residents have tested positive for West Nile, the second highest number of human cases in a single year since the county began reporting cases in 2000, the county said.

Two women who’ve contracted West Nile virus have brought the total number of cases in Massachusetts to 15 this year, officials announced Friday afternoon. One woman is in her 60s, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said. She was most likely exposed in Middlesex County.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to explain his recovery from West Nile virus and the “frightening” scenario that no treatment or vaccine exists to combat the virus.

Anthony Fauci contracted the West Nile virus in August, and he reveals in a New York Times essay that it took a far greater toll on his health than previously disclosed: ・"I could not swing my legs over the side of the bed to sit up without help from my wife and three daughters,