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Midtown News Monitor

Eric Borneman, noted author for Reefkeeping Magazine, was discovered today laid up in a foreign hospital. According to the BBC report, Borneman was at work researching an outbreak of the white plague coral's disease in the Flower Gardens off the coast of Texas and contracted the dreaded disease himself. A doctor examining him determined that because of his extensive history of researching and studying corals, Eric's physiology had begun to morph into something very similar to a coral's. "The tissue surrounding his left leg was noted to be receding and his spleen showed signs of strange tissue degeneration," his attending physician, Dr. M. Capricornis, said. "Apparently, when you are around corals as much as Eric is, a transformation begins to occur, causing the human physiology to morph," noted Dr. Capricornis.

Prognosis for his recovery is unknown. In a recent interview from St. John's Medical Center in Bogotá, Colombia Eric remarked, "Now that I am afflicted with this disease myself, my research into white band disease will undoubtedly reach a new level." A noted colleague and friend of Eric's, Dr. Ron Shimek, commented, "Eric has studied corals for so long and has absorbed so much knowledge about them, it comes as no surprise to me that this has occurred. He has zooxanthellae in his blood!"

This recent event explains Borneman's extended absence from the largest marine aquarium bulletin board, Reef Central, where he moderates "The Coral Forum." This rare case is the first known transmission of a coral disease to a human. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta is in hot pursuit of more details on how this disease was able to infect this researcher so rapidly. The BBC hopes to release a more detailed report on Eric's condition later this week.

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