Herein, we report that compared to HSV-1 infected non-treated mice, the infected and engineered FGF-1 (TTHX1114) treated mice showed (i) an overall resistance to disease and death; (ii) a significant decrease in primary stromal keratitis (on days 5, 14, and 21) and blepharitis (on days 7 and 14); and (iii) a significant increase in the frequency and function of corneal anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages and a decrease in corneal pro-inflammatory macrophages and inflammatory cytokines. The gene discussed is FGF1; the disease is blepharitis.