History of Morgellons Disease

A Mysterious Skin Disorder is currently spreading across America, and doctors are searching for answers on how to stop the possible epidemic. The skin disease has already been found in thousands of people in Florida,Texas and California, though all 50 states have had reported cases. It has been reported throughout Europe, South Africa, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. Doctors tell them the "bugs" they feel and sores they see, are only in their minds. Also difficult, is the patient's treatment by the medical community who have little time for or knowledge about the disease, and in some cases have lacked complete compassion for the infected. In medical terms, they are delusional parasitosis. Morgellons is an unusual parasite-like skin disease, which produces irritating sores all over the body. These non-healing skin lesions ooze blue fibers, white threads and little black specks of sand-like material.

"The name Morgellons was coined in 2002 by Mary Leitao of McMurray, PA, while investigating her son's unexplained rash. She named the condition Morgellons (with a hard g), after a condition from the monograph A Letter to a Friend by Sir Thomas Browne, in 1690, wherein he describes several medical conditions in his experience, including that endemial distemper of children in Languedoc, called the morgellons, wherein they critically break out with harsh hairs on their backs. A 1935 paper by British doctor C.E. Kellett identifies the name morgellons with the Provençal term masclous, or "little flies". It is doubtful that the 17th century disease has anything to do with modern day Morgellons, however the similarities were such that Leitao elected to use the name as a consistent label when addressing politicians, physicians and health departments." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia