Crozier, 44, was hospitalized at Emory University after contracting the disease in Sierra Leone, where he worked at a hospital. At the time, the hospital said he was the sickest of all the four Ebola patients treated there. Crozier was discharged in October, and about two months later, he developed eye problems and returned to Emory. Doctors stuck a needle in his eye and removed some fluid, which tested positive for the virus. His case has left doctors stunned and highlighted the need for eye checkups for Ebola survivors.
"We certainly didn't think it was related to active and replicating virus in the eye," Crozier said. "As my sight started to go bad, it became clear that this was a very different animal."
"There were lots of things sort of higher on the food chain," he told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." "I was struggling to learn to walk again."
There was no risk to spread the virus during contact despite the presence of the virus in the eye, samples from tears and the outer eye membrane tested negative, Emory said in a statement Thursday.
When the virus was found in Crozier's eye, the eye started losing its original blue hue. It turned green. They gave him steroids and an antiviral agent (which required special approval from the Food and Drug Administration, according to the Times.)
His eye gradually returned to normal, but doctors are not sure whether it was as a result of the steroid shot, pill or his body's immune system.
While Ebola survivors in West Africa have reported eye problems, it's unclear how prevalent the condition is and how often it happens. Emory advises that Ebola patients should be monitored for the development of eye symptoms like pain, redness, light sensitivity and blurred vision.
Crozier said he hopes his case will bring light to the enormous challenges Ebola survivors face.
Photo Credit: CNN
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