For one patient who thought his Ebola diagnosis had been cured, unfortunately it has resurfaced. Dr. Ian Crozier thought he had recovered but it has now been found in his eye, of all places.
Crozier had contracted Ebola while working as a volunteer with the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone and after a long stint in Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital, he left in October Ebola-free.
New York Times reports fast-forward two months later and Crozier was back at Emory complaining about immense pain, diminishing eye sight, intense pain and pressure in his left eye. In addition, he reported conditions of hearing loss, joint and muscle pain and fatigue.
Emory Hospital’s Facebook page posted a before-and-after photo of his eye and wrote, “Dr. Ian Crozier survived #Ebola after being treated at Emory Healthcarelast fall. But months later, #Emory doctors found the disease lurked in his eye, causing him to nearly lose his eyesight and turning his blue eye green.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper spoke with Dr. Crozier, who said when he started feeling these symptoms in his eye, he thought it was “an immune-related Ebola complication” and didn’t dream the virus had returned.
“We certainly didn't think it was related to active and replicating virus in the eye," he said. "As my sight started to go bad, it became clear that this was a very different animal."
His case has lead to other Ebola survivors being urged to check out their eyes to make sure the virus didn’t return to them as well.
Dr. Ian Crozier survived #Ebola after being treated at Emory Healthcare last fall. But months later, #Emory doctors...
Posted by Emory University on Friday, May 8, 2015
image via Facebook from Emory Hospital