New Brunswick Dementia Cluster
Mysterious diseases are unfortunately a reality even today. In March 2021, public health officials in New Brunswick, Canada revealed that they’ve been tracking a local cluster of people who have developed a dementia-like condition with no clear cause.
There have been 43 cases of the condition documented across people of all ages since 2015, while five people have died after their diagnosis. Symptoms include memory loss, hallucinations, and involuntary muscle movements.
Prions, the dysfunctional and transmissible proteins that build up in the brain and slowly destroy it, were considered a primary suspect at first. But the evidence collected so far, including from brain autopsies, hasn’t supported that hunch. Other theories include toxin exposure or some other infectious agent.
