Questions raised about existence of mysterious brain syndrome in New Brunswick – By The Canadian Press Staff (The Canadian Press) / Oct 27 2021
48 individuals were identified in the cluster of cases, nine of whom have died
FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s health minister said Wednesday there are serious questions about whether reports of a mysterious brain disease that has alarmed residents and stumped the province’s medical community are substantiated.
Dorothy Shephard told a news conference in Fredericton that an epidemiological study has found no known food, behaviour or environmental exposure that could have caused the symptoms of a mystery brain syndrome.
“While I am not going to predetermine the outcome of the clinical investigation, I do think we are getting closer to a determination,” the minister said. “I also believe Public Health has significant reason to question the validity of an unknown neurological illness.”
In March, New Brunswick health officials alerted the province’s doctors, nurses and pharmacists about a cluster of residents with an unknown and potentially new neurological syndrome with symptoms similar to those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Since then, 48 individuals have been identified in the cluster of cases, and as of Wednesday, nine of them had died.
