Free Republic

Sufferers describe ghastly symptoms; but some doctors skeptical of claims The Bay Area might be home to a small cluster of a horrifying and as-yet-incurable disease that leaves patients with open sores all over their bodies and strange, unidentifiable objects poking out of their skin. Or not. It's possible that this mystery disease is all in their heads. The disease is called Morgellons, and no one knows what causes it or if it's even real. After more than a year of pressure from patients convinced they have Morgellons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will begin investigating the ailment...

PANIC is sweeping through suburbs north of Katutura after three people died and 19 others were hospitalised with a disease that still has to be identified. A press release from the Ministry of Health and Social Services last night indicated that the disease was not confined to the Khomas Region, and that cases of "undiagnosed paralysis" among adults had been reported in the Otjozondjupa and Hardap regions. A media briefing is scheduled for this morning to reveal information related to the outbreak. Well-placed hospital sources confirmed yesterday that two other people were fighting for their lives in the Intensive Care...

An unknown disease has caused the deaths of thousands of wild Teal ducks in north-western Iran, but a government official said today the cause was not the bird flu strain that has killed birds in Romania and neighbouring Turkey. Behrouz Yasemi, an official with Iran's State Veterinary Organisation, blamed a "mysterious disease" for the deaths of 3,692 wild ducks. "We were looking for bird flu [but] medical tests have definitely ruled out flu," Yasemi said. "Experts are now in the process of diagnosing this mysterious disease. We may be able to diagnose it in the next few days." The...

SAUSALITO -- Is an unknown disease hitting the Bay Area or is it just a case of mass delusion? If you ask intensive care nurse Cindy Casey she'll tell you that the mystery disease is very real and very painful.