"Agrobacterium species are known to be found in patients in hospital settings," Citovsky told WND. "The person is often weakened and has some skin lesions or some other roots of infection, and like any other bacteria, Agrobacterium can go there and just proliferate using the skin as a medium for its growth. So, if you have a lesion, and you work in the garden, you'll get all kinds of dirt in there and germs among the Agrobacterium."

Citovsky explained that the bacterium is present in virtually all soil and is often used to genetically alter crops.

"A year ago, we took biopsies from the skin of patients," he said. "We looked for the presence of genetic material of Agrobacterium mutations. Agrobacterium is bacterium that is used also, among other things, in genetic engineering of plants."

Dr. Stanton Gelvin, a professor at Purdue University College of Science who has studied the bacterium for nearly 30 years, said, "Agrobacterium is the means by which DNA is transferred to the plant. After the DNA is transferred to the plant, [genetic engineers] use antibiotics and kill the Agrobacterium. So there's no Agrobacterium around, and now you have a plant with new genes in it."

Both Gelvin and Citovsky said there are no traces of the bacterium in plant tissue following genetic alteration. Though many patients have tested positive for it, they vehemently protest any suggestion that humans can have genetically altered cells and contract Morgellons disease by eating engineered crops treated with Agrobacterium.

"That idea is total lunacy," Citovsky said. "It has nothing to do with it. Forget this mumbo jumbo people use, environmentalists for some unknown reason, when they are protesting against genetically engineered plants. Those plants feed millions of people who are hungry and dying. It has nothing to do with the disease."

Bacteria or fungi?

San Francisco Bay area

Dr. Kilani reviewed two samples of fibers from Morgellons patients and extracted DNA from the strands. His research indicated the fibers could come from a fungus.

"Everyone has their own theories about this, but I don't think it's connected to Agrobacterium," he said. "I think it's another organism that has not been described in clinical medicine. It could be a fungus or a parasite or something more complex than bacteria."

Kilani said he thinks Morgellons disease could be linked to areas of the U.S. with swamp land and wet areas because there has been a high prevalence of disease reports in the San Francisco Bay Area and other places with bodies of water and high levels of humidity, such as Texas and Florida.

"There is something in the environment," Kilani said. "It is probably linked to plants, yes. Maybe it lives on plants, and it adapted to the human host."

Citovsky, however, provided a simple explanation for increased Morgellons disease reports in the three states.

"Who knows," he said. "Maybe people complain more there."

A scientific mystery

Kilani said scientists don't have the support to investigate Morgellons disease because they are short on funds and resources.

"Nobody thinks it's a disease, so that is part of the problem. Until they do, it's going to continue spreading. It's in households, so when one individual is infected, we find out that the rest of the household is infected."

Fibers removed from facial lesion of 3-year-old boy

Though many people, even members of the medical science community, do not believe Morgellons is a legitimate disease, Kilani said he receives as many as 10 calls every day from people who identify themselves as having the symptoms. He refuses to accept the notion that it is a fabricated illness.

"No, this can't be," he said. "Not almost a half-million patients, no. I have met people from all walks of life: High-powered attorneys, physicians, nurses, actors, actresses, athletes. They go nuts after awhile. They become socially rejected because of the way they look. The whole thing is just a disaster."

Kilani said Kaiser Permanente is the first and only recipient of funding for Morgellons research from the CDC, but he doesn't think the grant will be enough to help scientists determine if Morgellons disease is caused by bacteria, fungi or any other environmental factor.

"I'm not sure how far that will go because $338,000 is a drop in the bucket," he said. It'll be spent in a week. It's just not enough money. Whoever gets funding and can investigate this problem is going to make a huge contribution because there are lots of people with this illness."