A mysterious brain disease affects young people, but local authorities hide the number of victims and do not divulge what they have discovered. An anonymous researcher thus decides to turn to a newspaper, which publishes the story. It sounds like a movie plot, but it’s actually happening in Canada.
The anonymous whistleblower, an employee of Vitalité Health Network, a public health authority, told al Guardian that in the Canadian province of New Brunswick the number of young people suffering from rapid cognitive decline, accompanied by weight loss, insomnia, limited mobility, hallucinations, difficulty concentrating is dramatically increasing. Talking about it began in the spring of 2021 and local authorities set the number of cases they were investigating at 48, without changing it anymore. But the victims of the mysterious syndrome have actually already become at least 150, with dozens of other cases still to be verified.
“I am really worried about these cases because they seem to evolve quickly – said the informant -. I am worried about these people and we owe them an explanation ». At this moment it is very difficult to give it. The syndrome has affected people who have been in close contact, which occurs either when a virus is involved or when environmental conditions determine it. There was a case of a man, suddenly suffering from dementia and difficulty in performing voluntary movements (ataxia), who was assisted by his wife. She too suddenly began to suffer from muscle wasting, dementia, hallucinations and insomnia, and soon became more severe than her husband.
There are many cases of nurses who assisted patients affected by the same neurological disorders, but the most worrying aspect is the high number of young adults, not suffering from any pathology, who contract the mysterious disease. A young mother quickly lost 20 pounds, developing insomnia and hallucinations. According to the employee of Vitalité, who chose anonymity because he is not authorized to speak and because he fears retaliation, the New Brunswick authorities are expected to announce by January that the number of mysterious cases is simply the result of misdiagnoses, which have improperly grouped conditions. different linked to specific pathologies.
A thesis that contrasts with what was discovered by the Special Neurodegenerative Disorder Clinic of the city of Moncton, which examined the cases reported in the region and surrounding areas. The tests carried out have created great perplexity among doctors, unable to formulate a precise diagnosis. The human brain is one of the most complex organs to study and the certainty is obtained only by analyzing it after the death of the patient. However, doctors are alarmed, because neurological diseases are rare in young subjects and much lower in percentage than those recorded in the region.
In October, New Brunswick provincial authorities said there was no evidence of food, behavior or environmental exposures that could explain the disease. But there are those who raise some suspicions about Beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMMA), a neurotoxin produced by cyanobacteria found in seawater and freshwater. The tests to detect their presence and incidence are however very complex and so far it has been preferred not to perform them. It appears that the authorities are doing their utmost to fuel conspiracy theories, and the families of the victims are organizing to force them to find out what killed their loved ones and what is happening in their community. And like in old movies, talking to a newspaper still seems like the best thing to do.