CDC probes what may (or may not) be horrific illness; Thousands claim to be afflicted with sensations in skin, and painful sores.(Main)

Byline: HOWARD WITT Chicago Tribune

AUSTIN, Texas - The symptoms sound like something straight out of a horror movie: crawling and biting sensations all over the skin, dementia and insomnia, painful sores that never heal and, most terrifying of all, mysterious tangled fibers pushing out through the open wounds.

Thousands of victims concentrated in Texas, California and Florida claim to be afflicted by the debilitating malady, for which there is no known cause and no certain cure. One young Austin man apparently committed suicide when the agony grew too acute, while many others, spurned by disbelieving doctors, are suffering in silence.

But whether …