Officials are receiving new calls for an investigation into a mysterious brain disease that has been affecting hundreds of people in a small community for more than a decade.
The new leader of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, Prime Minister Susan Holt, has reopened an investigation into the disease that causes dementia-like symptoms and partial paralysis.
Since DailyMail.com last reported on the cases, there have been more than a dozen more, affecting about 450 people in the area, and primarily people on the Acadian Peninsula.
Local authorities had previously estimated the total case count at just 48 people.
According to the prime minister, there have been 40 deaths.
The Public Health Agency of Canada, a national organization under the supervision of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, had previously offered $5 million in funding to the province to investigate the cases.
New Brunswick Public Health conducted its own investigation without using the funds and concluded there was no cluster of brain diseases in the area. Rather, the department said the patients had been misdiagnosed and actually had dementia and cancer.
Officials ceased investigations.
Pictured is Premier Susan Holt of New Brunswick. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and economics from Queen’s University and has a history of involvement in public health groups such as the New Brunswick Lung Association.
The number of cases of the condition is discussed. A Canadian doctor said he has seen about 450 patients who fall within the disease guidelines. In 2022, an investigation by the government concluded that there was no link between the 48 cases they included in their study.
Now, Premier Holt announced that she plans to relaunch an investigation, using the $5 million initially offered by federal authorities.
She said: “I think we need to do everything we can to shed some light on this and find a way to stop what is making people sick.”
This adds fuel to a vocal minority of health officials in the area, led by New Brunswick neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero, who have publicly insisted that something sinister is happening in the area.
Prime Minister Holt said: “The inexplicability of this is agony.” Not knowing what caused it, what will happen next, what the treatment path is.
“But knowing that it doesn’t seem to be treatable and that people around you have died from it is terrifying.” So I think we need to do everything we can to shed some light on this and find a way to stop what’s making people sick.”
The unknown neurological disease, considered New Brunswick neurological syndrome of unknown etiology, causes people to develop problems with walking, balance, coordination, hallucinations, sleep, concentration, memory and mental confusion.
Dr. Coulthart’s Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System (CJDSS) first notified the government about the disease cluster in late 2020, when 40 residents were suffering from mysterious neurological symptoms, presenting similar to those of the disease. Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
CJD is a rare, fatal disorder similar to mad cow disease that causes rapid brain deterioration and muscle problems.
However, an independent oversight committee concluded a year later that the patients actually had known illnesses.
But leaked emails were revealed two years after the investigation closed. Dr. Michael Coulthart, head of a surveillance system, said: “My scientific opinion is that there is something real going on in NB (New Brunswick) that absolutely cannot be explained by the bias or agenda of an individual neurologist.”
“Some cases could be better explained by the latter, but there are too many (now more than 200).”
A year later, 48 patients had been identified as part of the group. Most cases are concentrated around Moncton, New Brunswick, a city with a population of 85,802.
Many of the patients were referred to the Moncton Interdisciplinary Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (MIND), where they were treated. MIND, which was previously affiliated with Dr. Marrero, estimated the number of patients at around 450 based on symptoms.
Among them were Luc LeBlanc and Cody Gallant, some of the youngest residents suffering from the debilitating disease.
LeBlanc, 39, was previously healthy, but now doctors have told him his brain is “like that of an 80-year-old.” CBC reported.
He was one of 48 patients the government included in the group and has now had to stop working due to muscle spasms and mental confusion.
Luc LeBlanc, who has mobility issues and can no longer walk, was counted as part of the government group. Cody Gallant was also treated at the MIND clinic. However, public health officials do not recognize him as part of the group. He cannot sleep, has muscle spasms and hallucinations.
Gallant, 21, was a high school football player, but now has trouble sleeping, severe headaches, hallucinations and coordination difficulties.
He was not one of the 48 patients the government included in the group, but according to the MIND clinic, he suffers from the condition.
Prior to Premier Holt’s statement, the New Brunswick government’s official position was that the cases are not connected or linked to a single cause.
Dr. Marrero is one of the only doctors who has publicly rejected this position.
He even performed his own blood tests on some of the New Brunswick patients and discovered that pesticides found in each of their blood could be the cause of their illness.
Dr. Marrero told The New York Times Magazine: “I’m not concluding that this is the cause of what’s happening.”
But he added: “It’s something that tells me that something is wrong with the environment they live in.”
In December 2022, it found that 90 percent of the patients it examined had elevated levels of an agricultural chemical called glyphosate in their blood.
He cautioned that this could simply be common in the area and that nothing can be concluded from these blood tests alone.
A number of chemicals, including glyphosate, are used in this area of New Brunswick to keep local forests healthy.
Glyphosate, a herbicide and active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, has been the subject of public scrutiny for decades.
Terriline Porelle was at work during the summer of 2020 when she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Today he has trouble walking and doing daily tasks without the help of his partner. He said he hopes Premier Holt’s investigation finds answers.
Some studies link it to non-Hodgkin lymphoma and others link it to an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s.
It is prohibited or restricted in some parts of Canada. In Quebec, herbicide is prohibited in forest management. In Vancouver, it is prohibited to use this product in public parks and outdoor gardens.
But not all health organizations agree that the product is toxic.
The US EPA has repeatedly affirmed its approval of glyphosate. The most recent review of the product in 2020 said: “There are no concerning risks to human health when glyphosate is used according to its current label.”
It is still used throughout North America. In New Brunswick it is used to maintain forests.
Aside from pesticides, some have suggested that the unknown illness could have to do with the local seafood supply.
Many coastal New Brunswick residents reportedly eat locally caught fish, and the economy depends in part on water tourism.
Toxic algae blooms sometimes appear in the area, driven by pollution, and the fish that feed in these ecosystems can sometimes be full of neurotoxic chemicals, linked in other parts of the world to Parkinson’s-like diseases.
The lack of an explanation has been frustrating for group patients like Terriline Porelle. Porelle, who used to be an active person, said the guardian she Now he has difficulty controlling his hands, problems with memory and walking.
She only eats frozen foods because she can no longer cook for herself and has trouble completing tasks.
He said Premier Holt’s investigation is a welcome change and hopes he finds something to explain his symptoms.
Porelle said, “I am hopeful that Premier Holt will do the right thing by us, the patients and the people of New Brunswick.”