![\"Bizarre](\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2022.01\/xxs\/61d1e2812030270b9b5cc9cb.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/div>\nDozens of young people with no preexisting conditions are developing symptoms of a new disease as activists and families suspect a cover-up on the part of the local government.<\/p>\n
A whistleblower with Vitalit\u00e9 Health Network in New Brunswick told The Guardian on Sunday that symptoms include hallucinations, difficulty thinking, limited mobility, insomnia, and rapid weight loss. Local government has reportedly struggled to dismiss the growing number of cases as Alzheimer\u2019s or other neurological diseases uncommon outside the elderly.<\/p>\n
While the official number of cases recorded since the mystery illness was first publicly acknowledged in early spring has not budged upward from 48, multiple sources told The Guardian that as many as 150 people may have contracted the fast-moving illness. Still more young people require assessment, and several have died.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m truly concerned about these cases because they seem to evolve so fast<\/em>,\u201d the source told the outlet, acknowledging that \u201cwe owe them some kind of explanation<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the more disturbing elements of the condition is how little is known regarding transmission. In at least nine cases, caretakers and others in close contact with sick individuals have developed similar symptoms to the ailing party, suggesting the illness not only spreads readily between unrelated individuals but that there may be environmental factors involved. Some have compared the illness to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal brain disease caused by misshapen proteins called prions, though screening reportedly produced no confirmed CJD cases.<\/p>\n The province has struggled to keep the cases under wraps \u2013 the case cluster only became public last year when a memo was leaked to the media, and the government has insisted the \u201ccluster<\/em>\u201d itself is merely the result of \u201cmisdiagnoses<\/em>\u201d grouping unrelated illnesses together. Officials declared in October that eight fatal cases were due to \u201cknown and unrelated pathologies<\/em>,\u201d rather than a shared and unknown illness. An epidemiological report released in October supposedly ruled out any food, behavioral, or environmental exposure that could explain the problem.<\/p>\n However, another public health scientist who sought to remain anonymous suggested the government was covering something up. \u201cThe fact that we have a younger spectrum of patients here argues very strongly against what appears to be the preferred position of the government of New Brunswick \u2013 that the cases in this cluster are being mistakenly lumped together.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Beatty, whose father Laurie died with similar symptoms only to be posthumously declared an Alzheimer\u2019s case, is attempting to have his father\u2019s remains tested for neurotoxins, including \u03b2-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a suspected trigger for the illness. The local economy relies heavily on lobster fishing, and the chemical can be found in high concentrations in lobster, according to a study cited by The Guardian. Beatty and other families who\u2019ve lost loved ones to the mysterious illness have speculated that the government\u2019s refusal to acknowledge the possible existence of the disease cluster in the region could be politically or economically motivated.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a group of people wanted to breed conspiracy theorists, then our government has done a wonderful job at promoting it<\/em>,\u201d Beatty told The Guardian. \u201cAre they just trying to create a narrative for the public that they hope we\u2019ll absorb and walk away from? I just don\u2019t understand it.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n