Morgellons-disease or weapon

Morgellons - New Disease, or
Man-Made Weapon of Terror?

The victims feel as if bugs are crawling under their skin. Their doctors treat them as if they are insane. It is called Morgellons, the fiber disease, a mysterious skin disease that is currently spreading across the globe.

Those with this disease describe feelings of insects scurrying beneath their skin and have mysterious sores that ooze out blue and white fibers, some as thick as spaghetti strands. Attempts to remove the fibers are said to produce shooting pains radiating from the site.

To date, no clinical studies have looked into Morgellons. The first paper mentioning Morgellons was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, co-authored by members of the Morgellons Research Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to raising public awareness about the disease.

The disease is named after a medical condition described in 1674 by the British author Thomas Browne. Known as "Morgellons," Browne said the disorder caused children to "critically break out with harsh hairs on their backs." However, the Morgellons Research Foundation says that it is doubtful that the 17th-century disease is related to modern-day Morgellons.Analysis of the fibers found in the sores suggest that they are more than just lint from clothing, carpets, or bedding, nor are the black specks
composed of pepper, as several dermatologists have proposed. Some suggest the fibers are made of cellulose, a molecule generally found in plants. And if placed in a Petri dish, the fibers taken from a Morgellons sore will continue to grow.

Most of the medical community seems to think that Morgellons is mass delusion and people complaining of the symptoms are diagnosed with "delusional parasitosis," a psychological problem in which people imagine that they are infested with parasites. Yet patients all across the U.S. have reported the same symptoms long before hearing about the disease in the media or talking to other patients with similar symptoms.Some health professionals, such as Dr. Hildegarde Staninger from California, are finally beginning to sit up and take notice, bringing into play modern technology in the form of electron microscopes and spectrographic analysis in order to discover the secret behind the Morgellons mystery.