Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...alth-1.5953478
New Brunswick monitoring more than 40 cases of unknown neurological disease
Memo sent to health-care professionals in province says symptoms are similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
CBC News ? Posted: Mar 17, 2021 5:22 PM AT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
Public Health is closely monitoring a cluster of more than 40 New Brunswick patients with symptoms similar to those of Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal brain disease.
In an internal memo obtained by Radio-Canada, sent on March 5 by the office of the chief medical officer of health to the New Brunswick Medical Society and to associations of doctors and nurses, the department notes the existence of a cluster of 42 cases of a progressive neurological syndrome of unknown origin.
A first case was diagnosed in 2015, according to the memo. Three years later, in 2019, 11 additional cases were discovered, 24 more cases in 2020 and another six cases in 2021. Five people have died.
The disease affects all age groups and appears to be concentrated in the Acadian Peninsula in northeast New Brunswick and the Moncton region in the southeast.
"We are collaborating with different national groups and experts; however, no clear cause has been identified at this time," the memo states...
New Brunswick monitoring more than 40 cases of unknown neurological disease
Memo sent to health-care professionals in province says symptoms are similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
CBC News ? Posted: Mar 17, 2021 5:22 PM AT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
Public Health is closely monitoring a cluster of more than 40 New Brunswick patients with symptoms similar to those of Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal brain disease.
In an internal memo obtained by Radio-Canada, sent on March 5 by the office of the chief medical officer of health to the New Brunswick Medical Society and to associations of doctors and nurses, the department notes the existence of a cluster of 42 cases of a progressive neurological syndrome of unknown origin.
A first case was diagnosed in 2015, according to the memo. Three years later, in 2019, 11 additional cases were discovered, 24 more cases in 2020 and another six cases in 2021. Five people have died.
The disease affects all age groups and appears to be concentrated in the Acadian Peninsula in northeast New Brunswick and the Moncton region in the southeast.
"We are collaborating with different national groups and experts; however, no clear cause has been identified at this time," the memo states...
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