Fauci overwhelmed by calls after journal published mistake over beagle experiments

The nation’s top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has been inundated with calls following a mistake in a scientific journal claiming that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was funding experimental research on beagles.

The calls were so frequent that Fauci’s assistant stopped answering the phone for two weeks in October, The Washington Post reported Friday.

He received 3,600 phone calls in 36 hours.

“The constant harassment in the form of ridiculous accusations and outright lies makes doing my job and that of my staff of fighting the covid-19 pandemic all the more difficult,” Fauci told the Post. “This attack on me, which clearly has political overtones to a nonpolitical scientist, I feel, is dangerous to the entire field of science and [shows] how people try to intimidate scientists.”

According to the Post, Fauci received messages from impassioned and angry callers who went so far as threatening to “hang him.”

Fauci and the NIAID were drawn into the controversy after a July edition of the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Journal published information that the federal agency was funding beagle experiments in Tunisia.

In those experiments, researchers infected the puppies with sand flies and trapped their heads in mesh cages. The NIAID has denied involvement with that study, and the journal later issued a correction in October. 

However, an animal rights organization, White Coat Waste Project, has continued to claim that Fauci and the NIAID funded the research.

Other prominent Republican figures like Donald Trump Jr., former President Trump’s eldest son, began selling T-shirts that read “Fauci Kills Puppies.” In addition, far-right platforms such as 8kun were filled with memes about Fauci killing puppies, the Post reported. 

Fauci, who serves as President Biden’s chief medical adviser and has remained a leading adviser on the COVID-19 pandemic since it began, has received backlash for his recommendations to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

In particular, the public health expert has received backlash from Republican lawmakers and officials like Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his endorsement of the use of masks and vaccines. 

The issue regarding the beagles was highlighted when a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Fauci, demanding he answer his involvement with the Tunisia study.

Fauci did not comment on NIAID’s involvement in animal research, but pointed out that any research carried out on animals by the agency must be compliant with regulations to ensure “commitment” to the animal subjects’ welfare.