Please see the letter below addressed to New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen. This letter was sent directly to the Centers for Disease Control through Senator Shaheen’s Washington DC office with a cover letter asking for a response to the two critical questions. As of May 14, 2016 there has been no response from the CDC. A meeting has been scheduled with Senator Shaheen’s staff in the Manchester, NH office on May 19th which will include a number of Lyme patients mentioned in the letter below. In addition to live patient testimonies, a CD of the signature and comment file from this Change.org petition will be hand delivered to staff members for review. The petition has collected over 580 pages of heart wrenching stories from horribly disabled Lyme patients across the globe (42 countries). This is clearly the 21st Century plague as migratory birds are distributing Lyme infected ticks globally. 1. First detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato DNA in king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus halli). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25150726 Excerpt: Here, the blood of 50 tick-infested adult king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus halli) breeding in the Crozet Archipelago (Southern Indian Ocean) was examined for B. burgdorferi sl exposure by serology and for spirochetemia by in vitro DNA amplification. Four birds were found positive by serology, whereas B. burgdorferi sl DNA was detected in two other birds. Our data therefore provide the first direct proof of Borrelia burgdorferi sl spirochetes in seabirds of the Southern hemisphere and indicate a possible reservoir role for king penguins in the natural maintenance of this bacterium. 2. Global ecology and epidemiology of Borrelia garinii spirochetes http://www.infectionecologyandepidemiology.net/index.php/iee/article/view/9545 3. Assessing the Contribution of Songbirds to the Movement of Ticks and Borrelia burgdorferi in the Midwestern United States During Fall Migration http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0982-3 4. Studies abound on how north Ixodes scapularis ticks are transported by birds. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26739029 5. Impact of Spring Bird Migration on the Range Expansion of Ixodes scapularis Tick Population. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26688012 Please feel free to distribute this update on all social media outlets and continue to pass this information to friends and loved ones. LETTER TO NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATOR JEANNE SHAHEEN: ________________________________________ April 12, 2016 Senator Jeanne Shaheen 506 Hart SOB Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Shaheen, I attended a meeting on March 23, 2016 where I listened to the personal stories of six professional women from New Hampshire who had to resign from their positions due to the debilitating affects of Lyme disease. Some of these women were teachers, principles etc who had to cut short their careers. Fifth-grade teacher Kelly Downing was paralyzed from the neck down and interviewed by Katie Couric. You can read about her ordeal here: 1. http://patch.com/new-hampshire/nashua/nashua-mom-talks-chronic-lyme-on-katie-couric-show This life-altering/life-threatening experience with Lyme disease is not unique as we have similar stories all across America: 2. Professor Neil Spector: Duke physician uses near-death experience to encourage patient self-advocacy Dr Neil Spector from Duke University required a heart transplant after his Lyme disease went undiagnosed for four years. http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2015/05/28/duke-physician-uses-near-death-experience-encourage-patient-self-advocacy#.VYlYnxtViko 3. Wheelchair-Bound Girl Calls Blessing By Pope Francis ‘Most Precious Moment Of My Life’ NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A 12-year-old girl who has been confined to a wheelchair since being diagnosed with Lyme disease said meeting Pope Francis as he arrived in New York Thursday was “the most precious moment of my life.” Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/09/24/pope-francis-blesses-girl-in-wheelchair/ 4. Scotty Shelton and Persistent Infection in Saginaw MN https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/11685820 “Scotty's brain (cerebral cortex) was positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia myamotoi, his testicle is positive for Bb. We are now testing other tissues. Seven years of antibiotics and 3.5 years of natural treatments (along with antibiotics) and he was highly highly positive.” 5. Cardiac Tropism of Borrelia burgdorferi: An Autopsy Study of Sudden Cardiac Death Associated with Lyme Carditis. (March 2016) http://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(16)00099-7/abstract Excerpt: “Fatal Lyme carditis caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi rarely is identified. Here, we describe the pathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings of five case patients.” 6. Yolanda Foster: Yolanda Foster on Lyme Disease: I've Lost Ability to Read, Write, Watch TV http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/yolanda-foster-on-lyme-disease-ive-lost-ability-to-read-write-2015191 7. Amy Tan: SLyme Disease: How A Speck Changed My Life Forever http://www.humanthology.com/lyme-disease/2014/9/15/slyme-disease-how-a-speck-changed-my-life-forever 8. Averil Lavine: Avril Lavigne Opens Up About Her Health Crisis: 'I Was Bedridden for 5 Months' http://www.people.com/article/avril-lavigne-lyme-disease-bedridden 9. CDC Case Study #1: Three Sudden Cardiac Deaths Associated with Lyme Carditis: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6249a1.htm?s_cid=mm6249a1_w 10. CDC Case Study #2: A case report of a 17-year old male with fatal Lyme carditis http://www.cardiovascularpathology.com/article/S1054-8807(15)00025-3/abstract?rss=yes ________________________ There are roughly 700 scientific articles supporting chronic Lyme disease or persistent Borrelia infection: (suppressed scientific evidence) Peer Reviewed Evidence of Persistence of Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and Tick-Borne Diseases after the mandated one-size-fits-all IDSA treatment approach: http://www.ilads.org/ilads_news/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/EvidenceofPersistence-V2.pdf It appears that we have been dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug: 1. Researchers’ discovery may explain difficulty in treating Lyme disease http://www.northeastern.edu/news/2015/06/researchers-discovery-may-explain-difficulty-in-treating-lyme-disease/ Excerpt: “Northeastern University researchers have found that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease forms dormant persister cells, which are known to evade antibiotics.” 2. Standard antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease does not kill persistent Borrelia bacteria. http://droopyyoupi.blogspot.com/2015/08/standart-antibiotic-treatment-for-lyme.html -What has tuberculosis and Borrelia burgdorferi in common? In the late stage of the disease occurs persistent (tolerant) bacteria, which essentially means that the bacteria lasts and lasts and lasts. They protect themselves against antibiotics and are difficult to treat. - Both Borrelia burgdorferi and tuberculosis is relatively easy to cure in the early stages, even with the use of one antibiotic. In the late stage it is impossible to cure the disease with the same type of treatment in the acute phase, said Dr. Ying Zhang when he visited the year NorVect conference. -Dr. Ying Zhang is a professor at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 3. Evidence of in vivo existence of Borrelia biofilm in borrelial lymphocytomas http://wtnh.com/2016/02/23/unh-discovers-biofilm-in-those-affected-by-lyme-disease/ Excerpt: “An article by a UNH research team led by Professor Eva Sapi is the first to show that the microorganisms that cause Lyme disease are resistant to treatment due to what’s called a biofilm. A biofilm – which has a protective layer of “slime” – allows the organisms to hide away from antibiotics at the microscopic level.” _________________ We acknowledge drug-resistant bugs as a major health problem; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), multi-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB), Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Klebsiellapneumoniae carbapenemase-producing bacteria (KPC). The CDC awarded Dr Gary Wormser of New York Medical College 1.5 million taxpayer dollars which downplayed the seriousness of Lyme disease as his study excluded the sickest of patients focusing on the acute stage of disease after early treatment. You would not see a cancer study where stage IV cancer patients are deliberately excluded. Patients who had a prolonged exposure to the spirochete before diagnoses and initial treatment are almost always incapacitated as described earlier. This class of patient has been deliberately ignored as the focus has always been on the acute or early stage of disease. Wormser has misclassified Lyme as a “nuisance” disease; easily treated and cured with a one-size-fits-all IDSA treatment approach with only a small percentage experiencing minor aches and pains after treatment; “Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.” The following link will take you to my complaint against Dr Gary Wormser of New York Medical College registered with the Office of Research Integrity: Scientific misconduct or criminal offense? https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/14006106 A thirty year lack of oversight has led to a runaway plague misclassified as a simple nuisance disease while the dogma continues to be promoted by those who have controlled the narrative for the past three decades. This deception to the American people has not only caused untold pain and suffering but has influenced the nation's perceptions and the medical community’s response to Lyme disease. The medical establishment has been led to believe that “chronic Lyme” is a fictitious disease and hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of patients are left untreated/undertreated and suffering. There are no Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) informing the public that you could become horribly disabled by Lyme disease. Questions for the CDC: 1. Why would our CDC and members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America want to suppress a serious, disabling life-altering disease or, 2. Conceal an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug? This makes absolutely no sense at all and should be the first questions (among many) for a congressional investigation. A congressional investigation into how this life-altering/life-threatening disease has been misclassified as a simple nuisance disease for the past four decades is long overdue. Sincerely, Carl Tuttle Hudson, NH 03051 Lyme Disease: Call for a “Manhattan Project” to Combat the Epidemic Raphael B. Stricker and Lorraine Johnson http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3879353/