In 1994 laboratory testing for Lyme disease (serology) was molded to fit vaccine development and as a result millions of Lyme patients (worldwide) who are actually suffering from a Lyme infection have negative lab results and are not treated. Please take a moment to read the following letter (and links) addressed to the Executive Director of The Association of Public Health Laboratories as I have spelled out in detail the problems with the two-tiered algorithm sanctioned by this entity which is not a government agency protected by Sovereign Immunity law. I am waiting for a reply from Mr. Becker. If you have been harmed by faulty/misleading laboratory results for Lyme disease you might want to share your experience with Mr. Becker and carbon copy the senior staff found on the Senior Staff Directory page: https://www.aphl.org/aboutAPHL/Pages/Senior-Staff.aspx Please include me on any communication sent to Director Becker. My email address for this action is: cwtuttle603@gmail.com Carl Tuttle Lyme Endemic Hudson, NH USA ________________________________________ From: "Carl Tuttle" To: "scott becker" Cc: "troy willitt" Sent: Sunday, August 6, 2017 9:39:11 AM Subject: Public Health Laboratories: "A Culture of Quality" About Public Health Laboratories A Culture of Quality “Public health laboratories ascribe to a culture of quality. They continually strive to improve operations at their facilities and at clinical laboratories within their jurisdiction. They sponsor specialized training, send updates concerning health threats and share information on best practices. In many states, public health laboratories regulate private clinical and environmental laboratories. State public health laboratories also conduct applied research, for example, to develop enhanced testing methods.” Source: https://www.aphl.org/aboutAPHL/Pages/aboutphls.aspx Aug 6, 2017 Association of Public Health Laboratories 8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 700 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attn: Scott Becker, Executive Director Dear Mr. Becker, Per the following document stored in my personal Dropbox account it appears that ASTPHLD (Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors) now known as APHL sent an oversight committee to the Second National Conference on Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease known as the “Dearborn Conference.” Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease https://www.dropbox.com/s/bms7xjrxx2drpr3/Dearborn%20Proceedings%201994.pdf?dl=0 Untreated strep throat leads to rheumatic fever which can cause irreversible heart damage but rapid culture tests for strep available in the primary care setting has virtually eliminated rheumatic fever and the life-threatening complications associated with that disease. Misdiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease creates the same life-altering/life-threatening consequences but this has been hidden from the worldwide medical community and general population. Just ask Duke University Professor Neil Spector who required a heart transplant after his Lyme infection went four years untreated. Spector’s laboratory tests (serology) were repeatedly negative. Faulty/misleading antibody tests are the root cause of unimaginable pain and suffering. Lyme disease is capable of producing sudden death with no warning signs; [1,2,3,] heart damage requiring transplant, [4] paralysis with seizures, [5] lymphoma [6] and persistent infection after antibiotic treatment [7, 8,9,10,11] along with congenital transmission [12] and ability to create wheelchair bound patients [13]. The last time we recognized a disease with this potential to cause serious harm, (Zika) the CDC wanted 1.8 billion for research. [14] Quote from Senator Richard Blumenthal: "Today for me culminates more than a decade of work and probably a decade more, because I've seen firsthand the devastating, absolutely unacceptable damage done by Lyme disease to individual human beings, Connecticut children and residents whose lives have been changed forever as a result of Lyme disease” Source: http://ctmirror.org/2011/07/18/blumenthal-takes-lyme-disease-fight-senate/ The truth about this devastating disease has been kept from the public for 43 years. There are no Public Service Announcements informing the public that you could become horribly disabled or die from Lyme disease Mr. Becker, Please see the letter below addressed to the World Health Organization describing our family’s experience with current Lyme disease tests. We were horribly sick with Lyme disease in this Lyme endemic region of New England yet no one tested positive by the two-tier algorithm established in 1994 in which the Association of Public Health Laboratories approved. I have attached Dr. Volkman’s letter to the CDC and a copy of a Western blot for your review. I have two questions that I would like you to answer. Questions for Public Health Laboratories: 1. Could you please describe in detail what involvement APHL has had over the past twenty-three years in order to insure that what was established in 1994 was correct and accurate for the detection of Lyme disease? 2. Has there been any suppression of direct detection methods such as: A. 16S rRNA sequencing, Milford Molecular Diagnostics B. Culture, Advanced Laboratory Services C. Osp A & OspC antigen capture in CSF of Coyle & Schutzer RML antigen capture assay D. NIST-membrane by LC/MS A response to this inquiry is requested. Sincerely, Carl Tuttle Lyme endemic Hudson, NH My letter to the World Health Organization follows the 14 references below as outlined in this email: REFERENCES: (Please read them!) 1. 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.” 2. 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 3. 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 4. Professor Neil Spector: Duke physician uses near-death experience to encourage patient self-advocacy http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2015/05/28/duke-physician-uses-near-death-experience-encourage-patient-self-advocacy#.VYlYnxtViko Dr Neil Spector from Duke University required a heart transplant after his Lyme disease went undiagnosed for four years. 5. Nashua Mom in the 'Lyme Light' on Katie Couric Show http://patch.com/new-hampshire/nashua/nashua-mom-talks-chronic-lyme-on-katie-couric-show Fifth-grade teacher Kelly Downing was paralyzed from the neck down and interviewed by Katie Couric. 6. Infection by Borrelia burgdorferi and cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (Cancer) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9331890 Specific DNA sequences of Borrelia burgdorferi were identified in cutaneous lesions from 9 patients (follicle center lymphoma: 3/20; immunocytoma: 3/4; marginal zone B-cell lymphoma: 2/20; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: 1/6). 7. Application of Nanotrap technology for high sensitivity measurement of urinary outer surface protein A carboxyl-terminus domain in early stage Lyme borreliosis. http://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-015-0701-z 41 of 100 patients under surveillance for persistent LB in an endemic area were positive for urinary OspA protein after antibiotic treatment. 8. Culture evidence of Lyme disease in antibiotic treated patients living in the Southeast. http://danielcameronmd.com/culture-evidence-of-lyme-disease-in-antibiotic-treated-patients-living-in-the-southeast/ Rudenko and colleagues reported culture confirmation of chronic Lyme disease in 24 patients in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. All had undergone previous antibiotic treatment. 9. DNA sequencing diagnosis of off-season spirochetemia with low bacterial density in Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi infections. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24968274 Faulty/misleading antibody tests landed a sixteen year old male in a psychiatric ward when his lab results did not meet the CDC’s strict criteria for positive results. His Western blot had only four of the required five IgG bands. Subsequent DNA sequencing identified a spirochetemia in this patient’s blood so his psychiatric issues were a result of neurologic Lyme disease misdiagnosed by antiquated/misleading serology. This patient was previously treated with antibiotics. 10. Granulomatous hepatitis associated with chronic Borrelia burgdorferi infection: a case report http://www.labome.org/research/Granulomatous-hepatitis-associated-with-chronic-Borrelia-burgdorferi-infection-a-case-report.html The patient had active, systemic Borrelia burgdorferi infection and consequent Lyme hepatitis, despite antibiotic therapy. 11. 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.” 12. Congenital Transmission of Lyme/TBD https://www.dropbox.com/s/z10em0szgpm8bll/Congenital%20Transmission%20of%20Lyme%202015.doc?dl=0 13. Wheelchair-Bound Girl Calls Blessing By Pope Francis ‘Most Precious Moment Of My Life’http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/09/24/pope-francis-blesses-girl-in-wheelchair/ 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.” 14. $1.8 billion to fight Zika: CDC moves to highest alert level https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/08/obama-to-ask-congress-for-1-8-billion-to-combat-zika-virus/ 11th email to the World Health Organization: ________________________________________ From: "Carl Tuttle" To: smithi@who.int Cc: briands@who.int, engelsd@who.int, renm@who.int, aylwardb@who.int Sent: Monday, August 1, 2016 10:35:18 AM Subject: Dr. Sam Donta's Clinical Notes August 1, 2016 World Health Organization Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland Attn: Ian Smith MD, Executive Director of the Director-General's Office Dear Dr. Smith, Dr. Sam Donta spent a career studying Lyme disease as a professor of medicine and Director of the Boston University Medical Campus Lyme Disease Center. I have attached a copy of his clinical notes in reference to my personal case of Lyme disease. I would like to call attention to the Western blot lab results reported in his clinical notes. Positive results here in the United States require specific bands; two out of three IgM and five of ten IgG. In contrast, China’s Western blot requires a single band (Band 41) for positive results: A Study of the Technique of Western Blot for Diagnosis of Lyme Disease caused by Borrelia afzelii in China* 2013 Mar;26(3):190-200. doi: 10.3967/0895-3988.2013.03.006. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23425802 Band 41 as you know represents the antibody against the spirochete’s flagella. There are other spirochetal infections that might produce a positive response to band 41; Syphilis (Treponema pallidum) and periodontal pathogen spirochetes (Treponema denticola). These “other” spirochetes can be easily ruled out if there is a question of false positive Lyme results. Dr. Donta has seen all family members in our household as we were all horribly sick living in this Lyme endemic region of New England. None of us tested positive for Lyme disease following the CDC’s strict criteria for positive lab test results. I have attached a copy of my wife’s Western blot for your review. Western blot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ppus0unm0j2oiff/Western%20Blot.pdf?dl=0 My wife by the way could barely walk up a flight of stairs without excruciating knee pain and we thought she might require knee replacement surgery. I’m happy to report that my wife’s knee pain has resolved completely after long term antibiotics of three year’s duration. The point I would like to convey here is that had we not seen Dr. Donta, none of us would have been treated. This is not an isolated example! Thousands upon thousands of suffering Lyme patients are told they do not have Lyme disease and are not treated as a result of the strict testing criteria. In addition to the strict test criteria, bands 31 and 34 were removed from the Western blot to facilitate vaccine development. Bands 31 (Outer surface protein A) and 34 (Outer surface protein B) are highly specific to Borrelia so a positive result to either of these two bands confirms infection yet the two most important indicators of infection are no longer offered through standard commercial tests. The human Lyme vaccine was a failure while the two most significant Western blot bands have not been restored. Int J Risk Saf Med. 2011;23(2):89-96. doi: 10.3233/JRS-2011-0527. Neurological complications of vaccination with outer surface protein A (OspA). Marks DH1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21673416 Dr. David Volkman (Lyme researcher) wrote a letter to Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the CDC asking that the strict criteria for positive results be reevaluated. I have attached a copy of Dr. Volkman’s letter to this email. Dr. Volkman did not receive a response from the CDC. Dr. Volkman’s letter: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sl5x3gzguowpj6n/Volkman%20letter%20to%20Frieden.doc?dl=0 “One way to stop an epidemic is to redefine it by narrowing the disease's diagnostic criteria so tightly that it's hard for any chronically ill Lyme patient to fit the profile and obtain insurance reimbursement.” Dr Smith, I ask the following questions, “How long do we continue to turn a blind eye to the mishandling of Lyme disease here in the United States? Does the World Health Organization have any authority in questioning what has been wrongly established?” A response to this inquiry is requested. Sincerely, Carl Tuttle Hudson, NH 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/