Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious diseases expert, underwent surgery to have a polyp removed from his vocal cord on Thursday morning.
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has been helping to lead the federal government’s response to the ongoing pandemic, confirmed the news to CNN. He did not specify how long he would need to recover from the surgery.
Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said on Twitter that Fauci texted him shortly after the surgery to let him “know he was doing ok.”
Gupta said Fauci “had general anesthesia” and that he has been advised by doctors “to curtail his talking for a while to allow his vocal cords to recover.”
According to CNN, Fauci discussed having a possible issue with his vocal cord at an event back in April.
He reportedly said at the time “that when you get your voice damaged a little — I probably have a polyp there — the only way to get better is to keep your mouth shut.”
Since being tapped months back by the Trump administration to help coordinate its response to the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci has been one of the country’s most prominent health experts.
In the days leading up to his surgery, Fauci had given several interviews discussing the COVID-19 outbreak, including one on Wednesday with George Washington University.
The report comes as the nation continues to grapple with the pandemic, which Johns Hopkins University data shows has killed more than 173,000 people in the U.S. so far.