A mysterious neurological disease that kills six people in eastern Canada

Toronto (Canada) April 7th (EFE). – This Wednesday, the Canadian authorities reported the death of a sixth person in the country as a result of a mysterious neurological disease that also affects 44 other people in the east of the country and their presence. It was not reported until last month.

The first case of the disease dates back to 2015, although it was not identified until five years later, in 2020. That year, the country’s health authorities discovered a group of patients with neurological syndrome in the province of New Brunswick, eastern Canada.

But the presence of the disease was not disclosed to the public until March 17, 2021, a report from health authorities in New Brunswick was leaked to the media.

Symptoms of the disease are muscle spasms, memory loss, atrophy, vision problems and the rapid development of dementia among others.

Medical authorities have ruled out that the mysterious disease was related to prions, which are distorted proteins that cause neurological diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, which causes the so-called mad cow disease in cattle.

Although researchers have not determined the cause of the disease, the Public Health Agency of Canada indicated last month that it could be an entirely new disease caused by some type of exposure to a toxin present in the environment.

For now, the Canadian authorities have provided little information about the victims although they have indicated that the disease affects people of all ages, according to Canadian public broadcaster TV, CBC.

The geographic distribution has also not been determined, although the information published so far focuses on the cases detected in the Acadian Peninsula, an area on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and north of Moncton, the largest city in New Brunswick.

Speaking to CBC, Yvonne Godin, mayor of a small town in the Acadian Peninsula, said the lack of public information is causing concern and that “we need to know, as soon as possible, the cause of this disease”. EFE

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