What is the source of the skin lesions and fibers?
Presently, the fibers we now routinely see via low power digital microscopy from skin or fluids of all patients fit most closely with descriptions and photographs of Actinomyces israelii. There may be other Actinomycosis species, and work is under way at two universities (one a national-level mycology laboratory) to clarify this finding by genetic sequencing. The ubiquity of the organism in healthy people (but localized to the alimentary tract) combined with the greater ubiquity of body regions of Morgellons patients strongly suggests…again…immune deficiency state in these individuals. This would make the fibers markers and not infectious pathogens to be feared. The typical skin lesions vary but fall into at least two distinct types. One consists of near-circular (about one cm) bluish colored scars that persist for decades but begin as one mm raised lesions followed by weeping ulcers. The second are eczematous-like. All occur most frequently on distal limbs or the back or face. The Fil
