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I first heard about the rash from Sheri Allen in Mobile, Alabama. Allen wrote of red welts and blisters on her legs after "splashing and wading on the shoreline" of Mobile Bay with her two dogs on May 8. She reported that "hundreds of dead fish" washed up on the same beach over the following two days. This was much too early for the summer sun to have warmed the water to the point of oxygen depletion, but not too early for dispersants and dispersed oil to be mixed into the Gulf's water mass. By early July, Allen's rash had healed, leaving black bruises and scarring.
Other people -- both residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast -- wrote of similar rashes or other skin problems like peeling palms. The rashes have been diagnosed as scabies and staph infections, including MRSA, the potentially lethal Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Most cases lingered for months, as the rash did not respond well to antibiotics, steroid creams, or steroid shots.
Medical doctors are diagnosing skin rashes on Gulf visitors and residents alike as scabies and staph infections, including MRSA. The rashes resist prescribed treatments and often reoccur for months.
Retired Registered Nurse Allison Schmidt agrees. Referring to Allen's case, she said, "I can say without hesitation that these skin rashes have nothing to do with scabies. Scabies is a parasite, which causes a skin infection and is extremely contagious. It spreads from person to person by direct skin contact or by wearing an article of clothing worn by an infected person." Schmidt said, "If this were scabies you would see entire families infected and NOT just a single family member."
To make things a little scarier, some of the oil-eating bacteria have been genetically modified, or otherwise bioengineered, to better eat the oil -- including Alcanivorax borkumensis and some of the Pseudomonas. Oil-eating bacteria produce bio-films. According to Nurse Schmidt, studies have found that bio-films are rapidly colonized (p. 97) by other Gram-negative bacteria -- including those known to infect humans.
The oil eating microbe Alcanivorax Borkumensis, has been flourishing in the gulf since the BP disaster. Alcanivorax Borkumensis is a gram negative bacteria meaning it has a very thin cell wall vs.gram positive bacteria which has a very thick cell wall. All gram negative bacteria are considered very harmful to the host. They can cause severe immune responses.
The result is NOT pretty: Oil+ Dispersants+Genetically modified bacteria + Some of the most dangerous bacteria known to man = Unprecedented disaster in the gulf. We also know it has been found in the air, which means it will be evaporated and all that you see here will come raining down on us. Remember, the more knowledge you have the better prepared you will be to deal with this situation when it does occur.
Transcript Excerpt
The problem is that in our wisdom some of our scientists have decided to see if they could tinker with the genes of this bacteria to see if it could eat oil better.
So now we have bio-engineered bacteria out there chomping oil.
Does anybody have any idea what this does to people?
Some of the medical community have found that these gram-negative bacteria, specifically Alcanivorax [borkumensis], the super-bug, can cause a MRSA like infection.