The Emory Eye Center was catapulted into the global spotlight in late 2014, when they discovered the Ebola virus in the eye of Ian Crozier, MD a patient who had recently recovered from an Ebola infection. After treating Crozier for an extreme case of uveitis, which was correlated to his Ebola infection, the Emory Eye Center’s team lead by Steven Yeh, MD helped found the project, Quiet Eye West Africa (QEWA).
Quiet Eye West Africa or QEWA is a team of optometry experts partnering with Crozier and local West African colleagues who serve the optometry needs of Ebola survivors. The program was dubbed “Quiet Eye West Africa” because it expresses the program’s goals. The phrase “quiet eye” refers to a non inflamed and healthy eye. Emory Eye Center’s program seeks to help all Ebola survivors obtain and maintain “quiet (and healthy) eyes.”
In April of 2014 the QEWA team flew to West Africa to work with John Fankhauser, a physician working in Monrovia, Liberia treating Ebola patients and survivors. Fankhauser observed that many of his survivor patients were experiencing ocular symptoms and hoped that the QEWA team could help diagnose and treat his patients’ ailments. While in Liberia the QEWA team set up a mobile clinic, and using supplies and medications donated by Serving in Mission (SIM), an international relief organization, the team began to screen and treat approximately 100 Ebola survivors. Furthermore, QEWA worked to train local health care providers in screening for certain ophthalmic conditions that may have resulted from contraction of Ebola.
After the QEWA excursion to Liberia, the group continues to be actively involved in eye care programs in West African countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone, through missions to train local physicians and establish additional mobile eye clinics. The lead optometrist for QEWA stated “Just as Dr. Crozier’s eye was able to return to its “quiet” state after a period of acute, critical ocular illness, the ongoing goal of the QEWA project team is to ensure this care can be offered to many Ebola survivors in West Africa.”
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