Canada: Mysterious brain illness causes concern in New Brunswick

A mysterious brain ailment in the Canadian province of New Brunswick is making concerned health experts take note. The New York Post has reported that the number of patients is increasing. The ailment is reportedly causing neurological symptoms like hallucinations, vision problems, muscle wasting, memory loss and abnormal movements. The same symptoms were seen in 2015 in a cluster of patients which grew to 48 cases.

New York Post has now reported that some health experts and residents are saying that number of patients this time is much higher, maybe even greater than 200.

Moreover, an unusually high number of cases have been seen in younger population. Typically, youngsters do not show symptoms of dementia or signs of other neurological problems.

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"I am particularly concerned about the increase in numbers of young-onset and early-onset neurological syndrome,” said Dr Alier Marrero as quoted by The New York Post. Dr Marrero said this in a letter dated January 30, 2023 to New Brunswick’s chief medical officer and the chief federal public health officer.

“Over the past year, I have been following 147 cases, between the ages of 17 and 80 years old. Out of those, 57 are early-onset cases and 41 are young-onset cases,” the letter from Marrero reportedly said.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, there were nine deaths, as of 2021, attributed to the mysterious illness.

Abrupt stop to government investigation

The government authorities were looking into the illness and were considering environmental toxins as a cause. However, the investigation was abruptly shut down in 2021.

“People who were part of this cluster displayed symptoms that varied significantly from case to case, and there was no evidence of a shared common illness or of a syndrome of unknown cause,” the government said in its final report. The government said that it was concluding its investigation.

However, many who are not part of the government authorities are still trying to look into the illness and think that the illness may be linked to pesticides used primarily in rural areas.

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Glyphosate, a herbicide used in agriculture, has increasingly come into focus.

The chemical reportedly contains phosphorus which can stimulate blur-gree algae which is a cyanobacteria that can cause illness in people and can even kill animals.

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Those looking into the mysterious illness now are insisting that the number of patients is at least 200. They reportedly say that some of the patients have tested positive for multiple environmental toxins at levels up to 40 times higher than the average limit.

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