The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today that it is launching a study to learn about an unexplained condition that causes people to feel as if they have foreign substances growing from their bodies.
People with the condition, referred to as Morgellons disease, say they have fibers and other inorganic material growing out of their skin.
“We earnestly want to learn more about this unexplained illness, which affects the lives of those who suffer from it,” said Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator leading the study for the CDC, in a press release. “Those who suffer have questions, and we want to help them.”
“We have a team of epidemiologists, laboratorians and pathologists to carry out the study,” Pearson said.
The study will be conducted in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research. For more information, CLICK HERE to visit the CDC’s Unexplained Dermopathy Web site.
In 2006, a number of Morgellons sufferers told ABC News in interviews that when they consulted doctors, they received diagnoses they called wrong or dismissive. Brandi Koch, the wife of former Major League Baseball player Billy Koch, said that she felt as if she were living in a horror movie, claiming she had colored fibers coming out of her skin.
Koch, of Clearwater Beach, Fla., said that her life was good until one day in the shower when she noticed something strange — tiny fibers running through her skin.
“The fibers look like hair, and they’re different colors,” Koch said.
Koch said she knows that what she experienced “sounds crazy,” but it’s true. “If I had a family member call me up and say, ‘I have this stuff,’ I’d say, ‘I’m sending a straitjacket over. You need some help,'” she said.
Anne Dill described a similar condition. Looking at Dill’s life in Florida, she seemed to be living the American dream — her three daughters excelled in sports and were straight-A students.
But life in the Dill household was far from idyllic. Anne’s 40-year-old husband, Tom, died in January 2006, and she believes his death was due to a contagious illness that has infected her entire family.
Dill described her family’s skin: “There’s this fibrous material. It’s in layers.” Dill said the skin on their hands was particularly bad, very swollen and itchy, and said it felt as if bugs were crawling underneath the skin.
Consulting Doctors
Dr. Greg Smith of Gainesville, Ga., has been a pediatrician for the past 30 years. He claimed that a fiber was coming out of his big toe, and he had video footage to prove it.
“It felt like somebody stuck a pin in my toe and wiggled it, and it just continued to hurt,” Smith told ABC News in 2006.
He said he never thought he had bugs. “I’ve certainly had those crawling sensations, and the fibers which come out of the skin are really bizarre, and really odd.”
Smith was handed over to a hospital psychiatrist when he went to the emergency room complaining of a fiber in his eye. He admits that he, too, would be skeptical if a patient came to him with the same story.
“I would wonder if they’d taken their medicine that day. It makes no sense. It’s totally bizarre. It’s something that — just telling the story is so outlandish on the face of it — that no one would believe it,” Smith said. Dill’s doctor told her to stop scratching, even though many of her sores were in places she could not reach.
Koch went to the Mayo Clinic, where doctors didn’t believe that the fibers she’d brought them had grown from her body.
“I saw the infectious disease doctor, and I showed him some samples that I had and he snickered,” she said. “I can’t go through another doctor blowing me off or looking at me like I’m crazy. I know I’m not.”
Dr. Vincent DeLeo, chief of dermatology at New York’s St. Lukes-Roosevelt Medical Center, weighed in on what he’d say to someone who came to him with this condition. “I don’t think this is any different than many patients I’ve seen who have excoriations and believe that there is something in their skin causing this,” he told ABC News in 2006.
DeLeo said the open lesions were most likely a result of scratching the skin.
Relying on Your Own Research
But biologist Mary Leitao refused to accept the medical skepticism surrounding Morgellons.
Leitao’s son, Drew, was just 2 years old when Leitao noticed an odd sore on his lip that would not heal.
“He very simply said ‘bugs,’ and he pointed to his lips,” said Leitao.
Leitao never expected to find herself at the center of a medical storm. But when her son complained about the strange sore, the biologist, who once ran the electron microscope at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, did what any scientist would do. She took a closer look.
“What I saw were bundles of fibers, *** of fibers,” Leitao says. “There was red and blue.” Even stranger, they glowed under ultraviolet light.
Armed with research, Leitao took her son to a doctor at one of the country’s leading hospitals. He dismissed her tale of fibers and wrote to her pediatrician, saying that her son needed Vaseline for his lips and that his mother needed a thorough psychiatric evaluation.
Undaunted, Leitao began poring through medical literature looking for clues. What she discovered was a 17th-century reference to a strange disease with “harsh hairs” called “Morgellons.”
She named the strange fibers Morgellons disease and put the information on a Web site, Morgellons.org. At the time of her interview in 2006, more than 4,500 people had contacted Leitao, claiming they had Morgellons-type symptoms. The name stuck, and the disease was featured on the television show “ER.”
But do these fibers grow from inside the body, as Morgellons patients believe, or do they come from the external environment — a kind of lint — as the medical skeptics say?
Searching for an Answer
Forensic scientist Ron Pogue at the Tulsa Police Crime Lab in Oklahoma checked a Morgellons sample against known fibers in the FBI’s national database. “No, no match at all. So this is some strange stuff,” Pogue said in 2006. He thought the skeptics were wrong. “This isn’t lint. This is not a commercial fiber. It’s not.”
The lab’s director, Mark Boese, said the fibers are “consistent with something that the body may be producing.” He added that, “These fibers cannot be manmade and do not come from a plant. This could be a byproduct of a biological organism.”
Dill said she looks at pictures of her family and finds them unrecognizable. “My kids have to see not only their dad but their mom disintegrating, and that’s gotta be really scary.”
While they wait for evidence that they hope will convince the medical community to take them seriously, some Morgellon’s sufferers wear pink bracelets that say, simply, “Fortitude.”
Pictures of Morgellons Disea
Pictures can be viewed at the following location: Morgellon’s Disease Pictures
Hope you enjoyed the story and pictures of Morgellons Disease
Hi there, glad I found this site. I have had a strange rash for a few years on my back. It starts outs as blistery type of things, then I scratch and they turn to scabs. They take a very long time to heal. I have been having this crawly feeling like bugs crawling on me for a long time now, at least a year or two. I will feel a “stinging” sensation, then look down at the area where I got “bit” or whatever and there is usually a flaky piece of skin….so I take my nail to rub it off, and then there is a red dot there. This goes on all the time, anywhere, anytime …….I feel like something is crawling on me, stinging me or biting me. I also get the sensation that there is fuzzy stringy things on my body too. Oh, and most times, I feel these tiny little grains of salt like things. Sometimes white, sometimes, black. Sometimes, when I scratch off a scab it looks like there is a thread or a few threads sticking out of it. I used to get hairs growing out of the side of my face overnight, like an inch or two long! My daughter loves to pull those out. I feel like I have lice, as my head is itching all the time, and it feels like little sores are all over my head, but there is not any lice when I do the lice comb checks! I am baffled as hell here, and don’t have alot of faith in the doctors nowdays. Do you think it could be Morgellons? I have not magnified them as of yet,but think that that would be a good place to start. Right now, I have sores in my head, on my arms, legs, and also have had a couple of MRSA infections in the last year. I wonder if they could be related? Do you think?? Help, I feel like I am going crazy and don’t know what to do??
PS I forgot to add that these lint particles quadrupled when I bought an air purifier. The hepa filter seemed to be escaping into the air causing more problems than before. I also set off the roach bombs that didn’t help one bit.
I’ve been to 3 Docs in the past 10 months and finally gave up. For close to 7 months now I’ve suffered from a baffling skin condition that feels as though insects are crawling on me (and sometimes like thin threads or lint have landed on my face or arms). I constantly use box tape and those lint tape but only find loads of blue, black and red lint, black chips and dots that I cant ID as anything even with a magnifyer. This sensation is primarily on my jaws, forehead, ears, temples, scalp and hair – – even in my eyes. I swat, rub, scratch, wash, etc., etc. all day and night, but find no evidence of a visible, tangible source. I’ve been getting a crawly feeling around the toes and fingers lately, but not prior to this month. It occurs mainly in my home and car, and at the office. I feel like a walking germ!!!!
At times it feels like a sharp needle or cactus has stuck me. A few times pain in my ear has occurred. Numerous moles and blotches have appeared on my arms, chest, and torso. Some are red and raised, some flat and black. (the dermatologist said the moles are normal?? – not for me!) I DO NOT take any medications, use drugs, or drink alcoholic beverages. No relationships due to my religious convictions.
It has overwhelmed me at this point and nobody has ever heard of this condition. My prim care phys (PCP) and Dermatologist diagnosed dry skin – – she prescribed fungal shampoo and lotion and said to return if that doesn’t work. I didn’t return as I didn’t feel I was taken seriously. All blood work is clear and negative. My GYN checked for Thyroid problem; nothing wrong.
This all started between June-July 2009. My thoughts are one of these events could be the cause, as each happened within about 2 weeks of the other – – 1) In May of 2009 I transported boxes from my storage unit and there were all these webs of dust (not spider webs and not your normal cob webs), a tiny dead mouse was there, and evidence of a slimy film on the wall as though something larger crawled down the wall from the adjacent unit. 2) I bought a house plant that had a green film on its bark (it came from S America). Half of the soil spilled in my car. 3) I got sick after returning home from an outing with several coworkers (sore throat, weakness, difficulty moving my jaws, horrible looking blood red eyes – very strange), within 2 days I rushed to the ER and was treated for a pneumococcal infection (gave me Avalox intravenously, and 7 pills to follow up). 4) I threw moth balls everywhere thinking I might have an infestation in the house and car from the storage unit. Didn’t work. 5) I started boiling water and setting a large pot in the area where I always noticed increased activity in my hair (near the window where the tree stood). It looked as though a long film of white something??? was in the water when I poured it out. Like mosquito larvae you see in a pond on Nature program episodes. 6) one article I read at this sit mentions these nymph flies. Since this started I noticed that gnats swarm around my hair at the office. We have fresh fruit delivered once a week so I thought they came from the fruit.
I’ve exhausted myself from washing and rewashing clothes and linen. In addition, I’ve sprayed this and that, dry cleaned clothing numerous times, changed detergent and bath gel, threw out perfumes and bags of excellent clothing and toiletries, sterilized objects with Clorox – – you get my message. Nothing works!! My only consolation is the symptoms waned considerably after I took the tree to the dumpster. I did this later rather than sooner.
I sprayed my car over and over, but had not driven it for a while. The moment I drove it again the condition went wild – i.e., crawling sensation in the hair, around the eyes, face and ears.
Imaginary crawling is out of the question. I’m not imagining this. My persona is humorous and friendly, and I use tough-love for resolving family issues. I AM however mentally and emotionally drained from seeking remedies to this condition for close to a year. I pray that everyone’s comments will provide a lead to discover the origin of and cure for this horror.
There is a lot of information in this blog! You did a great job!
I guess I have had this disorder for about 19 years & never realized it until now. I have not had the lesions (Thank God) but I have the creepy crawlies, extreme muscle/joint pains & exhaustion.Nothing has helped.I am going to follow the methods suggested on this site to see which works for me. My son, 2x’s Army Vet of Iraq recently talked to me about ‘nanotechnology.’ He said there is NO monitoring or accountabilty in regards to the creation of this technology! NONE!It is used & flushed into our environment.He told me HE is frightened!!
Dlynn, I have eczema as well, and I think that because of it, we do not feel (or pay as much mind to) the itch that others notice with this affliction. I actually have many of the same things happening to me, especially the fuzzballs and the occasional blackish brown worm. I treated for lice and scabies as well, my ordeal also started in October. In December I found information that led me to believe I had Morgellons instead of any mite infestation. And I have gotten some relief because of it, I am now taking supplements and have changed my diet drastically. As far as putting stuff on the skin, I now only apply virgin coconut oil to my skin after every bath or shower. My eczema is more clean after doing this, than ever in my life! I use lysol spray for my couches, chairs, and vehicles, no more bites when I take a drive now. Overall…I am 80% symptom free from making these changes.
May God help and Heal us all!
Mary has it right, delight yourself in the Lord and never let the devil steal your joy. He is the cause of all disease and sickness, not God.
satan is using wicked men( The Illuminati) to inflict suffering on all man kind. All of you must get yourself in a Bible-Based church and learn what God has to say about everything. Jesus said by HIS stripes you are healed. Have faith in God no matter what the situation looks like. The devil might have power, but GOD is all power. God has given you the power to overcome satan, who is nothing more than a fallen angel, a dead spirit. I pray in the name of Jesus for the manifestation of all of your healing.
Do not look to man (The Government) for healing. Unfortunately they are pretty much under satan’s control. George Karlin had the Illuminati and the New World Order figured out years ago. If you want a taste of what satan is up to, GOOGLE NWO insider-How they will kill you. Also, Chemtrails the NWO plan to destroy you by poisoning the air. Yes, the book of Revelation prophesy tells us what is now and is to come. It is the only book in the Bible that promises you a blessing if you read it or hear the words in this book. It says this in the first chapter. Unfortunately, satan has convinced man to be afraid to get into this book of revelation so they will be blinded to what he is doing. He knows the only way he can operate is on people’s fear. satan knows that ignorant people won’t believe you and that is why he’s been so successful in deceiving the world. When you don’t believe your enemy exist, he can destroy you easily.
Folks, God loves you and will see you through this;All you have to do is seek his word daily and stand on it. JESUS IS LORD!!!
First time looking at this website; and thankful to learn some more maintenance bandaids to try (quinine-used for malaria?). Niacin therapy has helped my condition; slowly, and like the zapper I tried, think the flushing from the niacin and the current from a 9volt battery affects and disrupts the life of each nanobug in my blood. I have had no chronic fatique for aprox. 6 months and few new sores.
I live on edge of golf course where chemical sprays are used. I have met 4 people in my area who have morgellons. This affliction may destroy my body but never my joy in this life. I will delight in the Lord, all the days of my life. He is victorious over all matters in this life. Thankyou for all posts; will pray for you. Mary
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Yeah Right its idiots like u that make me wish it was simple for u to become contaminmated. The truest thing ever said, iggnence is bliss! People like u are my favorite, U know everything about everything,and everything u think u know is valid cause somebody u know told u so,it got to be da truf cause he know lots.Im glad u have continued your studies,cause u gunna be a rocket scientist/brainsurgion in da near future(I can just tell).Look at u now, bet u momma’s proud of u and u complex and well thought out responce to our fictisional problem that us crazys have. Just think if we could have spoke to u first we would have been set strait and knowed we b crazy and all..So continue on u briliant champion amoung men. I r ancious to see ur next publishing.Makes me want to further my education. U da man!!!!!!!