MLAs in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Call for Federal Inquiry Into Mysterious Brain Disease Outbreak

September 25, 2024 TruthUSA

Politicians from two Atlantic provinces are urging a federal investigation into a mysterious increase in a brain illness that originated in New Brunswick nearly a decade ago and has now spread to Nova Scotia.

Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin from N.S. and Green Party MLA Megan Mitton from N.B. are appealing to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to spearhead the inquiry into the surge of “atypical neurodegenerative” illnesses in both provinces.

The disease was initially believed to be confined to New Brunswick, but Smith-McCrossin started receiving reports from her constituents in Cumberland North about various “unusual” neurological symptoms. The riding is located close to the New Brunswick border, with Amherst, the largest town in Cumberland County, N.S., just minutes away.

“This is a critical issue that transcends provincial borders,” Smith-McCrossin stated in a joint letter with Mitton on Sept. 17 published on social media, urging PHAC and the medical officers of health in both provinces to launch investigations.

Nova Scotia Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin. (Nova Scotia Legislature) — Nova Scotia Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin. Nova Scotia Legislature

“We must ensure that both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are fully informed about the situation and are collaborating to determine the root cause of these symptoms.”

Mitton informed the New Brunswick legislature in June about the ongoing spread of the problem over the past ten years.

“There’s a question that I keep coming back to when it comes to the mystery brain illness, what is going on?” she stated in the legislature on June 6.

“Patients and their families are desperate for answers. There are early and young onset patients, people in the same household getting sick, and it feels like New Brunswick is moving as slowly as possible, even shutting down research, making it impossible to get to the bottom of this,” Mitton said.

Most of the cases of the enigmatic brain syndrome were concentrated in the northeastern part of New Brunswick three years ago, specifically in the Acadian Peninsula.

In April 2021, Public Health New Brunswick began collecting consent and contact information from 48 patients affected by the neurological disease for an investigative survey. These cases, identified between late 2020 and May 2021, raised suspicions about environmental toxins being the cause.

In a final report released in February 2022, the N.B. government concluded that there was “no evidence of a cluster of a neurological syndrome of unknown cause,” indicating that “the patients didn’t share common symptoms or illnesses.”

Mitton informed the N.B. legislature that leaked emails received under the province’s Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act revealed that scientists were instructed by the government to “stand down” despite instances of multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clusters emerging in the province.

Communications Across Jurisdictions

With “patients presenting with an atypical neurodegenerative illness” on both sides of the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border, PHAC’s intervention is crucial, as mentioned in the joint letter from Mitton and Smith-McCrossin dated Sept. 17.

PHAC spokesperson Anna Maddison indicated via email to The Epoch Times that the agency is currently supporting Public Health New Brunswick but cannot conduct its own inquiry unless more provinces seek assistance.

“PHAC would lead a response when there is evidence of cross-jurisdictional impacts, multiple requests for assistance from provinces and territories, and/or a need to coordinate mutual aid agreements to affected provinces/territories,” Maddison explained.

“While PHAC is aware of the letter posted by MLAs Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin and Megan Mitton, the Agency has not been contacted by any provinces or territories other than New Brunswick.”

Until then, the responsibility for public health responses in their jurisdictions lies with the provinces, Maddison added.

Nova Scotia Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang mentioned in an email to The Epoch Times that he has been in communication with his counterpart in New Brunswick.

Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia chief medical officer of health. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan) — Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia chief medical officer of health. The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan

“New Brunswick is looking into this reported situation,” he said. “Our teams will continue to stay connected.”

He did not provide any details on whether the province plans to request federal assistance.

Strang noted that the province has an established surveillance system for detecting communicable and emerging diseases, with input from both clinicians and laboratories.

The Epoch Times reached out to the office of New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health for a comment but did not receive a response before publication.

‘We Need to Get to the Bottom of It’

The neurological disease, which first emerged in 2015, exhibits symptoms similar to those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal degenerative brain disorder. However, New Brunswick Public Health has ruled out CJD as a cause.

Reported symptoms of the unknown illness include delusions, blurred vision, hallucinations, bouts of aggression or behavioral changes, memory issues, limb pain, repetitive speech, imbalance, and sudden weight loss.

Smith-McCrossin, also a registered nurse, emphasized the importance of prioritizing the mysterious condition for both levels of government.

“When patients exhibit atypical symptoms and a diagnosis cannot be determined, it’s concerning because we need to ascertain if it is a new illness, a new disease entity,” she stated. “We need to get to the bottom of it.”

Smith-McCrossin’s main concern is the possibility of more cases of the unknown illness in her constituency that may have gone unnoticed.

She pointed out that most family physicians in her area refer patients with neurological issues to specialists in Moncton, located a short drive away, raising doubts about whether the Nova Scotia medical officer of health is fully informed about the situation.

She highlighted medical wait times as another issue in the province, mentioning a colleague who has been waiting to see a specialist for five years.

Smith-McCrossin expressed concern that there may be individuals with symptoms that remain undiagnosed due to the difficulty in accessing neurological care. She emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue promptly.

Source link