Patients initially reported pain, mood swings and spasms, before many after a while develop memory loss, muscle wasting, drooling and involuntary chattering with their teeth, reports The Guardian. At least 43 people were affected, five of whom lost their lives.
Recalling the “madness of the balls”
Symptoms should be reminiscent of dangerous prion diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human variant of mad cow disease, but doctors have found no evidence for it.
In prion diseases, brain cells die off very quickly and leave small holes. The researchers did not find any such shortcomings in these patients.
– After detailed analyzes, we have a hypothesis that this is linked to an environmental factor which is toxic, explains Dr Alier Marrero to world news in Canada. They are now looking for possible sources of poisoning in the area.
What all patients have in common is that they come from the same geographic area, the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick, in the eastern part of the country.
Norwegian teacher: – Unusual
The first case was reported in 2015, but it was not until 2019, when cases became significantly more numerous, that health authorities stepped up the search for the cause.
– This is a serious brain disease, which develops very quickly and is fatal. It is very unusual to see this type of cluster disease, says Charalampos Tzoulis, professor of neurology at the University of Bergen in NRK.
He recounts previous examples where water or food sources were contaminated with, for example, heavy metals and herbicides.
“Coffeeaholic. Lifelong alcohol fanatic. Typical travel expert. Prone to fits of apathy. Internet trailblazer.”