HEALTH

New Details on Mystery Skin Disease

Called Morgellons Disease.

A new study has identified a rare skin condition as Morgellons disease, where sufferers have the sensation that something is crawling under the skin. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in the report that the disease is not contagious, but they could not find any evidence linking it to an infection or environmental cause. The CDC analyzed blood and skin samples from 115 patients in Northern California. “They’re not alive,” said CDC spokesman David Rutz. Rutz said Morgellons is not an official diagnosis, but Rutz said one symptom was tiny fibers such as cotton or common debris under the skin. Roughly 40 percent of the skin samples showed signs of chronic irritation, and some of the other symptoms included the feeling that something is crawling under the skin and fatigue.