Mysterious Nerve Disease in Canada?

Authorities apparently delay clarification

Created: 2/6/2022Updated: 2/6/2022 5:17 p.m

A novel disease is spreading in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

(Archive image) © Zou Zheng/ Imago

In Canada, infected people are suffering from the symptoms of a mysterious disease.

Researchers want to find out the cause - but the authorities seem to be delaying it.

New Brunswick - Memory loss, muscle spasms and hallucinations: The occurrence of these symptoms has been increasing in New Brunswick, Canada for years.

But the reasons for this are unknown.

Scientists suspect a nervous disease behind the symptoms.

The government of Canada has so far remained silent on this issue.

Mysterious disease surfaced in Canada: sufferers suffer from dementia, insomnia and hallucinations

The first case is said to have occurred in 2013.

The number of people affected has increased in recent years: the New Brunswick government has officially registered 48 cases since the beginning of 2020.

According to a Canadian whistleblower, however, there are up to 150 cases, as the

reports.

According to the government, nine people have already died from the disease.

The symptoms of the mysterious disease are mostly neurological in nature.

Those affected report impaired thinking, insomnia and limited mobility.

Researchers found that young people in particular are affected by the nervous disease: As reported by the Canadian broadcaster CBC, 20 percent of those affected are no older than 40 years.

Unexplained illness: Experts examine the connection to an existing illness

The disease became public for the first time in early 2021 after the health authority asked doctors to examine those affected for symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

According to the Robert Koch Institute, CJD is a rare brain disease that limits mental and motor skills.

The disease can be caused by an abnormal gene or by eating contaminated beef.

An infection usually leads to death within six months.

Whether the novel disease is related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is still unclear.

According to the

, however, there have now been two cases in which people in the vicinity of the sick person could have been infected.

Symptoms of neurological deterioration are said to have occurred in the nurses of two sick patients.

Novel nervous disease in Canada: authorities delay investigations - bad suspicions are raised

Contrary to various media reports that suggested the disease originated in the consumption of contaminated lobsters, the government assured that according to the epidemiological report there was no evidence of infection through food or external circumstances.

At the end of January, the health authority in New Brunswick wanted to publish further findings from the studies.

Instead, according to the CBC, the official case numbers are being pushed further down: several patients are said to have received letters saying that their illness was no longer one of the official cases.

This fueled suspicion among some that the authorities do not want to discredit lobster fishing.

Official investigator Joan McGowan told CBC that the investigations would be paused until the existing data were better evaluated.

The clarification of whether it is actually a mysterious neurological disease is further delayed.