Ebola Found in Doctor's Eye Months after the Virus Left Blood

The Ebola virus was discovered in the eyes of a patient months after it left his blood.

Forty three old American physician Dr Ian Crozier was himself diagnosed with the medical condition in September last year.

He was treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone while working for the World Health Organization. After being treated in a special Ebola Unit in Atlanta, doctors declared the virus had left his bloodstream.

However the doctor experienced swelling in one eye due to high blood pressure and also had vision problems few months later.

Dr Crozier was readmitted to the Emory Hospital in Atlanta where doctors drained fluids to test them for the virus.

The results revealed the presence of the virus but it was not contained in the tissues surrounding the eye or the tears.

The doctors conclude that while casual contact might not spread the virus to others, the patients would have to although be monitored for longer period to check on their eyes.

Crozier is yet to recover full vision but the doctors are hopeful that his condition will improve.

The Ebola infection has been a deadly epidemic in West Africa resulting in over 26,000 people being diagnosed with the disease. It eventually led to 4700 deaths in Liberia alone.

The number of cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea are at its lowest this year. And Liberia is set to declare itself Ebola free unless there are new reports of the disease.