CDC Announces Study of Morgellons Disease

On Wednesday, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta announced a study of reports of an unexplained dermopathy known as Morgellons disease and has issued a $338,000 contract to Kaiser Permanente to aid in research due to the numerous cases being found in Northern California.

According to the Morgellons Foundation the disease is of unknown etiology or origin. Doctors Virginia R. Savely, Mary M. Leitao, Rachel B. Stricker who led efforts to gain CDC investigation into Morgellons, document in a 2006 article that victims share the following environmental and health characteristics: 1) many patients have positive Western blots to Borrelia burdorferi, the causative agent behind Lyme disease 2) family members and pets who have come in contact with the same agent share the disease 3) have had contact with soil and waste products.

According to the Mayo Clinic more than 100 doctors have reported patients with similar symptoms. The Mayo clinic claims that every state in the United States, and in fifteen countries world-wide have patients-a variety of articles mention China, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Germany having cases.

Disease symptoms documented by the Mayo Clinic include

- Skin lesions accompanied by intense itching

- Fibers that grow out of the skin tissue, some with a spore like root, which are variously colored and sized, and fluoresce under ultra-violet light.

- Sensation like bugs crawling beneath the skin

- Fatigue that interferes with daily activities

- Inability to concentrate and difficulties with short-term memory

- Behavioral problems

- The CDC also lists joint pain and changes in vision