Fox News anchor John Roberts is recovering in the hospital after a bout with malaria, a parasitic mosquito-borne illness he suspects he picked up during a recent trip to Indonesia. Roberts, 68, tells People he began feeling widespread pain and uncontrollable shivering during his on-air shift, initially chalking it up to the flu. Blood tests revealed his platelet and white blood cell counts were low, which prompted his doctor to send him to the ER.
Roberts said the official diagnosis of malaria was both alarming and oddly unsurprising, noting he told himself, "Of course you have malaria. You never do anything in small measures." He explained that malaria, if left untreated, can be fatal, and described the episode as the sickest he has ever felt. The anchor started feeling ill about 10 days after returning from Indonesia, though he doesn't remember being bitten by any mosquitoes during his vacation.
Malaria symptoms—including fever, chills, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or vomiting—typically develop within a week to a month after exposure; the disease is most common in tropical or subtropical regions. In the US, nearly all malaria cases are contracted abroad, with around 2,000 diagnosed in the country annually.
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Since being hospitalized, Roberts has been treated with IV artesunate, the standard therapy for severe malaria in the US. He described his recovery as "up and down," but said he hopes to be discharged soon and return to work by Tuesday. He initially announced his diagnosis on X, where he said he came down with a "severe" case of the illness, the Huffington Post reports.
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