Professor Garth L. Nicolson,
David Bruton Jr. Chair in Cancer Research
Department of Tumor Biology (108)
The University of Texas M.D. 
Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas 77030 
Phone (713) 792-7481 Fax (713) 794-0209 

June 7, 1996

Mr. Gary Wade
National Health Federation
212 W. Foothill Blvd.
Monrovia, CA 91016	Tel: 818-357-2181

Dear Mr. Wade:

I have attached some information, reprints and preprints on GWI and the possible use of CBW during Operation Desert Storm. For your information, we have found so far that about one-half of the GWI patients (and 2/2 British ODS veterans) have an invasive mycoplasma infection that can be successfully treated with antibiotics, such as doxycycline (Nicolson, G.L. and Nicolson, N.L. Doxycyclæ0treatment and Desert Storm JAMA, 273:618-619; Nicolson, G.L. and Nicolson, N.L. Diagnosis and treatment of mycoplasmal infections in Persian Gulf War Illness - CFIDS patients. Int. J. Occup. Med. Immunol. Tox. 5:69- 78; 1996) (200 mg/d for 6 wk per course; several courses are usually required, similar to Lyme Disease), Cipro (1,000 - 1,500 mg/d) or Zithromas (500 mg/d).

We have developed new diagnostic procedures (Gene Tracking and forensic PCR) for analysis of the types of mycoplasmas found in GWI, and these may also be useful and informative for soldiers with GWI-CFIDS and some civilians with CFIDS (These diseases are essentially the same --(Nicolson, G.L. and Nicolson, N.L. Chronic fatigue illness and Operation Desert Storm. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 38:14-16, 1996). I have included these reprints with this letter.

Currently we are using a test called Gene Tracking to identify unusual DNA sequences unique to mycoplasmas in blood leukocytes (Nicolson, N.L. and Nicolson, G.L. The isolation, purification and analysis of specific gene-containing nucleoproteins and nucleoprotein complexes. Meth. Mol. Genet. 5:281-298, 1994).

We have adapted forensic PCR procedures for the accurate determination of invasive mycoplasmic infections, and this may be useful for clinical labs that are struggling with antibody approaches for detecting mycoplasmas.

What is interesting about these mycoplasmas is that they contain retroviral DNA sequences (such as the HIV-1 env gene but not other HIV genes), suggesting that they may have been modified to make them more pathogenic and more difficult to detect. It's also interesting that we have been working with a support group of Texas Department of Corrections employees that were apparently exposed to the same unusual mycoplasma before ODS, possible during a Defense Department-supported vaccine testing program in selected state prisons here in Texas.

One of the biotech companies involved in this TDC study (in Houston, TX) had US Army contracts to study mycoplasmas (this is indicated in their publications on the subject) and has been named in lawsuits as selling or supplying CBW to Iraq.

We have been able to assist thousands of soldiers recover from a life-threatening disease that is caused by invasive mycoplasma infections. We have learned that over 6,000 US soldiers have died of infectious diseases and chemical exposure in Operation Desert Storm. I suspect that this is being hidden from the American public for political, economic and legal reasons.

Sincerely,

Garth L. Nicolson, Ph.D.

Copyright © 1996. The Light Party.