"Is there an unknown neurological disease spreading in New Brunswick?" If so, does the (Canadian) government know more than it discloses? At the beginning of the new year of 2022, the Canadian media issued such torture.
New Brunswick is a province located on the east coast of Canada. On January 2, the British newspaper The Guardian published a report that an unknown neurological disease was spreading in New Brunswick, affecting more and more young people. "Rapid weight loss, insomnia, hallucinations, difficulty thinking, and limited mobility," these young people develop a range of symptoms of unknown etiology.
The Canadian health department disclosed 48 suspected cases, but the media said that the number of related cases had reached 150. "It feels like [the government] is covering up the facts." New Brunswick Parliamentary Greens Leader David Kuhn said.
A spokesman for the New Brunswick Health Department said an investigation report into the disease would be made public in the coming weeks.
The spread of unknown diseases was reported within the health department
On January 2, Canadian freelance journalist Lailan Cheko published a report in The Guardian, citing anonymous internal employees of the Vitalite Health Network (one of the health departments of New Brunswick) as saying that more and more young people in the area seem to be suffering from a neurological disorder, and some patients' cognitive abilities are rapidly declining.
The anonymous source said that the suspected cases are increasing, "I am really worried about these cases, they [their condition] seems to be developing too fast." "Canada officially records the number of cases under investigation at 48, a figure that has remained unchanged since it was first released in the spring of 2021. Multiple sources have revealed to the media that the actual number of cases may reach 150, and a large number of young people are waiting for further evaluation. In addition, the researchers believe that at least 5 people have died from the disease.
In New Brunswick, Canada, some patients with unknown neurological disorders experience cognitive decline and brain atrophy. /Social media screenshots
In these cases, there are cases of similar symptoms following close human-to-human contact. One of the suspected cases of a man developed symptoms of dementia and ataxia, followed by a sudden onset of insomnia during care by his wife, muscle atrophy, dementia and hallucinations. His wife's condition is now more serious than her husband's.
A female patient in her 30s is in a serious condition, can no longer speak, needs to eat with a tube, and drools constantly. A nursing student in his 20s took care of the patient, and more recently, the nursing student also developed symptoms of neurological decline. In addition, a young mother who lost nearly 60 pounds (about 27 kilograms) in a short period of time later suffered from insomnia and began hallucinations, and brain imaging showed signs of brain atrophy.
The Guardian said the unknown neurological disorder could be linked to environmental factors. Located on Canada's east coast, on the atlantic coast, New Brunswick has a population of less than 800,000 and is home to agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and tourism. An anonymous source from the Vitalite Health Network said, "New Brunswick is primarily a rural area where people may be more exposed to certain specific environmental factors." ”
At first it was suspected of being "mad cow disease"
In fact, before the Guardian's report was published, this mysterious neurological disease had already quietly spread in New Brunswick.
The first time residents of New Brunswick became widely aware of the existence of the disease was in March 2021. At the time, a memorandum from the province's public health agency said it required doctors to pay attention to a disease similar to the symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, commonly known as "mad cow disease", is a fatal brain disease caused by prions.
"We are working with different national groups and experts, however, no clear reason has been found yet." The memo said.
This unknown neurological disorder has symptoms similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, including amnesia, vision problems, and abnormal convulsions, and initially reports of these symptoms triggered a Monitoring Alert for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Canada. After screening, the health department found no confirmed cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mareiro, a neuroscientist working to investigate the unidentified disease, said in a media interview in March 2021, "We have no evidence that this is a disease caused by prions." ”
The Canadian Health Department still has many unknowns about the neurological diseases that have spread in New Brunswick. /Social media screenshots
Mareiro said a patient's initial symptoms are usually unexplained pain, cramps and behavioral changes that can easily be diagnosed as anxiety or depression. But after 18 to 36 months of progression, patients begin to experience cognitive decline, muscle atrophy, drooling, and teeth chatter. Some patients also begin to have terrible hallucinations, including the sensation of insects crawling on their skin.
To investigate the disease, Mareiro and his team conducted a series of tests on patients, including brain imaging, metabolic and toxicological tests, and spinal puncture, and they have ruled out conditions such as dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, and other possible infections.
Michael Kuhlhart, head of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance network in Canada, said, "In more than 20 years, we have never seen a neurological disease as difficult to diagnose as this. Some researchers believe that there was already 1 suspected case in 2015, 11 cases in 2019 and 24 cases in 2020.
In addition, researchers in Canada have not yet confirmed whether the mysterious disease is an unknown disease or a collection of unrelated known diseases.
Local legislators questioned the government's cover-up
Steve Ellis, a resident of New Brunswick, praised the practice of local health system employees breaking news to the media that his father was one of 48 suspected cases on official record.
Ellis' father contracted the unidentified disease in 2019, and since then, Ellis has been calling for an investigation into the truth about the disease. "We need support from within the government," said Ellis, who feared the government did not want to clarify the cause of his father's illness and dozens of others.
"They (the local government) are trying to protect the things that make them money." In an interview with Global News Canada, Ellis said that considering that New Brunswick mainly relies on seafood sales and tourism to generate revenue, this unknown disease may cost the province economically.
In response to media and public skepticism, a new Brunswick health department spokesman said an investigation report on the unknown disease would be released within weeks, and until then, the New Brunswick health department would not respond to rumors such as anonymous media revelations. New Brunswick officials promised that the investigation report would contain the results of a clinical review of the 48 officially recorded cases.
Neil Cashman, a neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia who is one of the experts investigating the unidentified disease, said all potential factors, including diet and environment, were within the scope of the investigation.
Some experts believe that BMAA, a neurotoxin found in cyanobacteria in New Brunswick, has the potential to cause symptoms of the nervous system. Researchers have also found high concentrations of BMAA in lobsters that are abundant in the region. New Brunswick officials have yet to confirm this claim.
In the New Brunswick legislature, several Green and Liberal MPs have also expressed concern about the unknown disease.
After reading the Guardian's Jan. 2 report, New Brunswick Greens leader David Kuhn said, "It feels like [the government] is covering up the facts." ”
Kuhn said New Brunswick needs to take action on unidentified diseases. "Whatever disease it is," he said, "we have to treat it with the sense of urgency it deserves." ”
Reporter | Chen Yikai
Edit | Zhang