European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Mystery malady ruffles Tahoe residents by Paul Raeburn associated pre s local merchant were not Happy teeing Tattoo tarred As a disease Center Here or. Daniel Peterson. App Coto during one month in Lale 1984, five patient walked into of. Daniel Peterson s office a incline Village Nev. Saying they had suddenly been hit with severe disabling fatigue Peterson could find nothing wrong with them i ended up saying they had a Long viral illness of unknown origin he says. The striking thing of me at that Lime Mas thai they had Lieen perfectly healthy Normal people before this illness struck  by the Spring of 1965. Dozens o1 such patients were appealing at his office All with the same symptoms. It was the beginning of a mysterious epidemic hat would strike 300 people among the 30.000 residents of the resort communities of incline wage Tahoe cily and Truckee. All nestled in the rugged mountains at the North end of Lake Tahoe. Among the victims were nearly the entire girls Baske Bali team at incline High school and seven of 10 teachers who shared a classroom at Truckee High school. Incline Village depends on tourism and summer rentals. Permanent residents include wealthy business people some celebrities Barbara Eden and Leonard Nimoy live there and a group of storekeepers real estate brokers and gambling Casino employees. The outbreak there seems Over now with a Mirakle of new cases but no new infections. But while it was in fun swing the local merchants Ware riot Happy seeing Tahoe tarred As a disease Center says Robert Schmidt a local business analyst whose wife has the illness. Peterson says he encountered hostility in the Community to the Point of Anonymous Telephone Calls and social snubs his partner moved to North Carolina and Peterson has been unable to find another. A larger debate erupted among medical experts across the United states some believed the patients were suffering from 3 new disease. Others blamed the symptoms on stress and depression. Or. Anthony Komaroff o Harvard medical school in Boston Lew to Lake Tahoe to examine the patients and a said his forthcoming scientific report will establish conclusively that the epidemic was caused by a new virus or a mutant form of an existing virus. The disease id not fatal but it can be devastating. A 35-year-old attorney an Oul Doc can who asked that his name not be used in t Strong enough now to stand up in a courtroom and can t work at All. I did t Slart feeling terrible until late october he says. I could t concentrate could t remember things too Well. Vou eel lifts you re in an alcoholic  most f us patients Tell similar stories Komaroff says they were perfectly Well without any chronic medical illnesses or psychological problems until one Day and they can very often idl you tiie exact Date i got what seemed to be at the Start just a simple cold or flu but i be never gotten belter " Early tests by Peterson and his former partner or. Paul Cheney suggested some involvement of Epstein Barr virus Winch causes infectious mononucleosis in late adolescence the new disease appears largely in adults and often lasts longer than mononucleosis so it has come to be called chronic mononucleosis or chronic Psi Len Barr virus disease. Investigators now believe however that this virus did not cause the epidemic but plays Only an indirect Rote. In addition to the severe fatigue symptoms include headaches sore throats swollen Lymph glands enlarged spleens abnormal brain scans indicating possible brain damage consequent loss of mental functions and various immune system abnormalities. Since the epidemic began in incline Vita go cases have appeared across the country although not in the dramatic clusters As at Lake Tahoe some doctors reported cases even before the Tahoe outbreak. Komaroff says m first sow people with chronic Epstein Barr vines disease As Long ago As 1075. Peterson continued to Puzzle Over the outbreak until lha Spring of 19b5, when he came across an article in a Back Issue of a medics journal that described a new syndrome marked by persistent illness and weakness in adults with evidence of Active infection with Epstein Barr virus. The virus belongs to the herpes family and like other herpes viruses remains in the body for life. Although Erma Bombeck of. So what do you think Are the most popular sports being enjoyed m America today swimming fishing7 Bowling Tennis flight. Well How does camping grab you i cannot believe that 34 percent of our population said camping ranked third As a favorite sport. A sport is supposed to be a form of recreation. A physical pastime. A fun game having a set body of rules where someone wins. And everyone has a lighting Chance i be camped. It s none of those things t always considered camping a punishment from god Lor ignoring my parents when they said. We re not asking you not to get married we re just asking you to wait a Lew years " Why else would i be washing out underwear in a double boiler showering with a nozzle reserved Tor spraying vegetables at Home stepping on someone s face to get to my bed which is suspended from the ceiling camping is a lot like the depression with tandem wheels. The first Lime my husband pitched the sport to me. I could t believe what a was saying. Hew would you like to leave All this  he said and set out in a car with three Surty kids Stop Aboul 4 in the afternoon Spray for mosquitoes haul water and Wood build a firs and Cook the food and maybe if it s a Public facility wander Over and listen to a Ranger show a film on the birth of a bog How much do we got paid for All of this i asked. You Don t understand. We Don t gel paid anything he said in fact All of this is a  to you Don t understand i said i Don t go anywhere where they Haven t head of Liz  Honey this is one of the most popular sports in  then How come 1 never see any cute outfits advertised for d 7" it s hard Lor me to imagine what the attraction of parking Between a Public toilet and a ghetto blaster for an entire weekend is All about. Maybe 1 just Don t have that Pioneer spirit. That quest Lor survival. -. That will to live that is needed Lor tha sport. A few years ago we went camping in Africa where i was promised a Shower. The Good news is every Day hot water poured from the ceiling of a Small enclosure. The bad news is the water was being poured by a Man i had never seen before. The incredible news is he did t lose his eyesight. It still does t account for camping s popularity. C u3i Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday May 2.1987