An outbreak of a mysterious neurological disease was recorded in Canada, but the authorities refuse to name the exact location and number of infected

Bertrand Mayor Yvon Gaudin, who is the head of the Akadskiy Forum of Mayors, says residents are “very, very concerned” about the mysterious disease found on the peninsula and around Moncton.

Public health officials said they would not disclose specifically where more than 40 cases of the mysterious neurological disease have been identified in New Brunswick, citing the “sensitive” and “confidential” nature of the information.

News of the mysterious epidemic emerged last week and indicated that a cluster of cases of an unknown neurological disease had been discovered in New Brunswick.

This information alarmed residents, but the authorities refused to disclose detailed information not only about the disease itself, but also about the exact place where the focus of the disease was recorded ..

According to a public health memorandum sent out this month to healthcare professionals, the disease appears to be concentrated in the Acadian Peninsula in northeastern New Brunswick and in the Moncton region in the southeast.

Forty-three cases have been identified and five people have died.

Although the mysterious disease bears similarities to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (a progressive degenerative disease of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and spinal cord. It is considered the main manifestation of spongiform encephalopathy (prion disease). Death occurs in 100% of cases), known as CJD, the memorandum noted, that “testing for CJD has ruled out known prion diseases so far.”

But little additional information was provided from the Public Health Service, and the peninsula’s mayors said Saturday that a shortage of it had spawned rampant speculation.

“We are very, very concerned about this,” said Yvon Gaudin, mayor of Bertrand, a village on the northern tip of the peninsula.

“Residents are worried, they ask:“ Is this moose meat? Is that venison? It’s contagious? “We need to find out what causes this disease as soon as possible.”

On Monday, Green Party leader David Kuhn criticized public health policy on these cases at multiple levels, saying “it is unacceptable that information concerning the health of so many people be withheld.”

Green Party leader David Kuhn said public health should hold a briefing to let New Brunswicks know what’s going on, rather than “hiding” information and letting fear spread among residents.

“Why are we only hearing about this now?” According to Kuhn, the first outbreak of an unspecified disease was reported back in 2019, when 11 cases were identified, and the disease came back in 2020, when 24 cases were identified.

“So why are New Brunswicks just now hearing about this epidemic?” – said Kuhn. “It’s surprising to me that public health is silent about this … they didn’t do anything to keep us informed.”

At the moment, the number of cases according to known data is more than 40 cases of unknown neurological diseases.

Kuhn said the Memramcook-Tantramar Green Party MLA Megan Mitton has already asked the legislature about the matter and his party will continue to seek more information.