The Mysterious Brain Disease in Canada Eluding Experts: Sleuthing The Culprits
I received an email from one of my Canadian patients a week ago, letting me know that the ‘mysterious brain disease’ in New Brunswick, Canada, that was reported in the news starting in 2020 was still an ongoing problem. In fact, more individuals are now sick as the problem has been spreading to surrounding provinces. I have been following the news on this story for the past few years, hoping to see some resolution to help these sick and suffering patients. I had previously reached out to a well-known Canadian researcher (I am keeping their name private because of the dysfunctional medical politics surrounding this issue) and let them know that I would be happy to be an ‘unofficial’ consultant for the Canadian government. I wanted to help my Canadian friends to the North if I could.
Why Do I Think I Can Help?
I have seen over 13,000 chronically ill individuals over my 41 year clinical career who had failed the medical system. These sick Canadian patients share certain common symptoms we frequently see in our patients, where an extensive diagnostic functional medicine work-up revealed the causes. As I list the symptoms below *(and the lack of sufficient answers from Public Health) and the workup done, you will notice some similarities to the symptoms and public health debates taking place in the United States over what causes chronic Lyme disease (CLD). This was recently labeled as ‘IACI,’ Infection Associated Chronic Illness by the National Academy of Sciences (a useless acronym IMO, since we know what causes chronic symptoms and it is medical politics not medical science driving that conversation).
I believe the same dysfunctional politics using an older, outdated medical model is likely responsible for why these patients have not received adequate diagnosis and treatment. It is not malfeasance, just ignorance. As I lay out the framework for my hypotheses below, I am not at all suggesting that this mysterious brain disease is just chronic Lyme disease, but there are so many similarities in symptoms, that the MSIDS model that I have developed over 40+ years of seeing 13,000 chronically ill patients will likely provide answers for at least some of the affected individuals. There are also clues for their illness that one can find reviewing the topography of the area in which these individuals live. I am therefore writing this piece for my Canadian friends who are ill and desperately looking for answers, as well as anyone diagnosed with a ‘mystery disease.’ If you are one of the patients diagnosed with this mystery brain disease, please share this Substack with your healthcare provider. The work-up and the logic behind it is listed below. Let me show how a medical detective sleuths out clues in illnesses and helps find answers that the classical medical system tends to dismiss. This piece is why I started the Medical Detective Substack in the first place.
How Many People in Canada Have Been Affected?
At least 500 Canadian citizens, from the New Brunswick area (specifically Moncton and Acadian Peninsula regions), with some as young as 18 years old (20% are young) and others up to 85 years old have been affected according to Public Health Canada. The average age of the cluster is 54 years old for women, and 62 for men. Initially when the report was posted on CBC News on Jan 5, 2022, ‘Young Patients with mystery neurological illness in New Brunswick anxious for answers’ by Maeve McFadden, nine of the patients whose ages were not released, had died. See the full report below:
What Are The Symptoms of This Mysterious Illness?
According to news reports, neurological symptoms included:
Balance issues
Memory problems and ‘brain fog’
Word finding problems
Behavioral changes
Headaches
Insomnia
Eyesight changes, with ‘spasms’
Neurological exams in some of the younger patients showed brain atrophy on MRIs and ‘dementia ataxia’
Hallucinations
Musculoskeletal Symptoms included:
Muscle spasms (including the eyelids)
Leg pain, finger and toe pain (and spasms)
Severe muscle atrophy with involuntary movements
Difficulty walking with some patients needing wheelchairs
Generalized Symptoms included:
· Unexplained weight loss
· Extreme fatigue
What Was Found To Date?
CBC News published an updated report on May 27, 2025, roughly 5 years after the initial investigation started, where New Brunswick completed the data analysis of the ‘mystery brain illness’ investigation. You can read the updated report here:
Dr Alier Marrero, the neurologist involved in many of the cases who brought these to the attention of Canadian Public Health, had concerns regarding “elevated levels of certain environmental substances, such as heavy metals and the herbicide glyphosate in some patients.’ So one of the hypotheses is environmental toxins.
Are These Toxins Potentially Responsible for the Mystery Neurological Illness?
Yes, it’s certainly possible that heavy metals and herbicides are playing a role in some symptoms, but then the question becomes, since WE ARE ALL EXPOSED TO THESE toxins (yes, everyone…see the Medical Detective Substack that I recently did on glyphosate and the three part series on heavy metals previously) and most do not get seriously ill, why were these 500 people specifically affected with such severe presentations?
I find these heavy metal toxins in a large percentage of my sick patients who come to see me, and prior US governmental reports highlighted that everyone tested has glyphosate in their system. I reported the elevated heavy metal toxins and pesticides in the journal Healthcare in 2018 when we reported the results of screening 200 sick chronically ill Lyme patients using the 16 point MSIDS model. This is from the article regarding toxicity:
In some patients when we chelate their heavy metals, and their resistant neurological symptoms improve, and the public health system in Canada has found mercury accumulation in some of the rivers in the area: “heavy metals such as mercury… accumulates in head ponds above dams, including Mactaquac and Beechwood.”
Quote from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/water-quality-report-new-brunswick-1.5357930#:~:text=Toxic%20algae&text=John%20River%20and%20has%20been,Falls%20and%20Florenceville%2DBristol%20areas.&text=A%20couple%20of%20lakes%20also,and%20a%20longer%20growing%20season.
Here is where a functional medicine work-up would be helpful. Since heavy metals don’t stay in the blood for very long, getting a hair and urine analysis (and potentially 6 hour urine DMSA challenge) could help. What other toxins are potentially present that can cause some of these symptoms in New Brunswick and are NOT usually checked for? Mold. This is highly likely. See the chart below with symptoms from mold toxin illness:
Chart From: RealTime Laboratory Mycotoxin Test
When you look at the symptoms listed for this ‘mystery brain disease’ and you review the symptoms known to be due to mold related illness, you will notice there are many overlaps.
Is It Likely Mold Related Illness Is Playing A Role in Some Patients?
Yes. No question. The individuals in question live in a part of Canada on a peninsula. New Brunswick is bordered by water (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Northumberland Strait, Bay of Fundy) and does experience mold issues, often linked to its many rivers, frequent flooding from heavy rain/snowmelt/storms, and high humidity, creating conditions for mold growth in homes after water events. In fact, this was reported years ago by CBC News:
Notice ‘the elderly or children’ can have more severe reactions. So if you are one of the patients affected, I would consider speaking to your physician about getting a mold test from RealTime Laboratory. The testing and treatment protocols are listed in my prior Medical Detective Substack:
Proper mold testing was likely NOT done in all these sick patients and needs to be.
What About Blue Green Algae/Cyanobacteria, A Different Neurotoxin?
Apart from heavy metal toxins and mold, growth of blue green algae, with cyanobacteria, may be playing an overlapping role in some of these neurological illnesses, as it has been found in areas when phosphorous levels exceeded safe limits…which is occasionally New Brunswick:
What Are The Symptoms of Cyanobacterial Neurotoxicity?
Acute symptoms include: muscle weakness and fasciculations, respiratory distress, seizures and altered mental status. These were some of the symptoms patients were complaining of. Cyanobacterial neurotoxicity can also cause headaches, dizziness, and in prior fatal outbreaks, like the one that took place in a hemodialysis unit, patients developed acute neurotoxicity with symptoms ranging from tinnitus, vertigo, headaches and deafness to blindness and convulsions, combined with liver problems (hepatotoxicity).
Subacute and chronic effects include: cognitive impairment, behavioral changes and potential links to neurodegenerative diseases. One of the toxins called microcystins can cause characteristic Alzheimer type II astrocytes in the brain. That was found on brain biopsies of some of the patients who died. JAMA Neurology wrote a piece on the subject denying that this was a mystery disease, but simply ‘well known’ conditions. See below:
“Results: Among 105 eligible patients, 14 patients (aged 20-55 years; 8 female, 6 male) received clinical evaluations, and 11 patients (aged 56-82 years; 5 female, 6 male) had neuropathological diagnoses. Well-known conditions were identified in all 25 cases, including common neurodegenerative diseases, functional neurological disorder, traumatic brain injury, and metastatic cancer. Based on the 11 autopsy cases, a new disease was extremely unlikely, with a probability less than .001. When applying the 95% confidence interval for the true probability of no new disease, the data revealed a high probability between 87% and 100%.
Conclusions and Relevance: There was no evidence supporting a diagnosis of NSUC (neurological syndrome of unknown cause) in this cohort. The data inclusive of independent examinations and neuropathology strongly supported the presence of several neurodegenerative and non-neurodegenerative conditions. Unfounded concerns that a potentially fatal mystery disease, possibly induced by an environmental toxin, is causing the patients’ neurological symptoms has been amplified in traditional and social media. Second, independent clinical evaluations are needed for any patient given a diagnosis of NSUC.”
From: Bendahan N, Gautreau S, Medina Escobar A, et al. Clinical and Neuropathological Evaluations of the New Brunswick Neurological Syndrome of Unknown Cause. JAMA Neurol. 2025;82(8):788–796. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1718 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2833783
Are Heavy Metals, Pesticides, Mold Toxins, and Cyanobacterial Illness Still A Possibility?
Yes. Without seeing the full reports, it is possible that some of the individuals who are still sick have these toxins, and those who died had exposure to cyanobacterial neurotoxins. The problem from a public health perspective is that blood and tissue tests for cyanotoxin poisoning is limited and not widely available clinically. The diagnosis is primarily clinical based on exposure history and symptoms.
So despite the JAMA article saying ‘nothing new here folks, let’s move on’…people are still ill and needing help. Describing the illness as a functional neurological disorder is about as helpful as calling chronic Lyme disease IACI. Naming symptoms without getting to the underlying causes is a problem in medicine. We don’t learn anything and it doesn’t help patients to get better. Therefore, the first step is to identify in these individuals who are still ill whether mycotoxins as well as heavy metals and pesticides are playing a role and whether there was known exposure to lakes/rivers in the area where algal blooms had been present. They have also previously found DDT in the rivers in the area. As per CBC news: “Think way way back to DDT, for example. We have some concentrations of that in some streams and rivers in New Brunswick.”
From: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/water-quality-report-new-brunswick-1.5357930#:~:text=Toxic%20algae&text=John%20River%20and%20has%20been,Falls%20and%20Florenceville%2DBristol%20areas.&text=A%20couple%20of%20lakes%20also,and%20a%20longer%20growing%20season.
To be clear, the toxins we are describing can cause Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s like symptoms and neuropathology via neuroinflammation. So JAMA Neurology describing these brain changes doesn’t tell us WHY these individuals fell ill. What else causes inflammation in the brain?
Could Wildfire Smoke Exacerbate Underlying Environmental Illness?
In the last 10 years (roughly 2015–2025), people in New Brunswick have experienced a significant, upward trend in exposure to wildfire smoke, with 2023 and 2025 being particularly severe. While historically less affected by wildfire smoke than western Canada, New Brunswick has faced increased smoke plumes from both neighboring provinces (Nova Scotia, Quebec) and distant, intense, long-range transport.
When you are exposed to wildfire smoke, you are exposed to hundreds of toxic chemicals. These chemicals can be associated with unusual neurological symptoms. Emerging evidence suggests wildfire smoke exposure may contribute to neurological symptoms including cognitive impairment and dementia, which are some of the symptoms reported amongst the 500 individuals who were suffering. The cognitive and neurological effects that have been documented in the medical literature include cognitive impairment, brain fog and headaches. Long-term exposure to wildfire PM2.5 shows stronger associations with dementia likely due to neuro-inflammation, oxidative stress and blood-brain barrier disruption.
Fatigue and headaches are also some of the most commonly reported somatic symptoms following wildfire smoke exposure. What is not usually associated are symptoms like muscle spasms, brain atrophy, hallucinations, difficulty walking and weight loss. However, when you use up glutathione to detoxify mold, heavy metals, pesticides and wildfire smoke, the body is more vulnerable to the effect of other infections and toxins. In the process of detoxification, you oftentimes use up magnesium, needed in over 300 detoxification reactions. Magnesium deficiency can cause spasms. We found that frequently in our sick patients described in the Healthcare article listed above. What infections commonly cause the list of symptoms reported above?
Tick-borne Illnesses Are Also Likely Involved, Especially Lyme and Bartonella, Possibly Babesia
The New Brunswick area is located right next to one of the US states with the highest rates of tick-borne illness, Maine. See the map below:
As far as I am aware, ticks do not need to show a passport to get into Canada. How bad is the tick situation in Maine?
So the area in New Brunswick is located next to one of the known hot-spots for Lyme and associated diseases including Babesia and Anaplasma. And you can be sure that the medical work-up for these sick patients did not include Bartonella or the multiple species making patients ill. Can Lyme and Bartonella cause the majority of symptoms seen in these sick patients? Absolutely!
Prior scientific reports from Dr Breitschwerdt and colleagues revealed that neurological and neurocognitive symptoms of Bartonella include:
Cognitive Impairment: Slowed memory processing, significant memory loss, “brain fog,” and mental confusion.
Motor and Sensory Issues: Ataxia (lack of coordination), tremors, muscle weakness, and peripheral neuropathies (numbness, tingling, or stabbing pain).
Headaches: Severe or chronic headaches and debilitating migraines.
Sleep and Autonomic Dysfunction: Chronic insomnia, dizziness, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms
Recent studies emphasize the link between persistent Bartonella bacteremia and severe psychiatric conditions:
Psychosis and Hallucinations: Documented cases of sudden-onset psychosis, visual or auditory hallucinations, and delusions. (some patients hallucinated)
Mood and Personality Disorders: Severe anxiety, panic attacks, depression, irritability, and episodes of “rage” or aggression (also these patients had unexplained behavioral problems)
When you look at all the symptoms of chronic Lyme disease, you will also see significant overlaps. See the validated symptom questionnaire on our website:
https://cangetbetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/MSIDS-QUESTIONNAIRE-FINALR.pdf
From: Citera M, Freeman PR, Horowitz RI. Empirical validation of the Horowitz Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome Questionnaire for suspected Lyme disease. Int J Gen Med. 2017 Sep 4;10:249-273. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S140224. PMID: 28919803; PMCID: PMC5590688. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28919803/
Why Are Canadians Confused About Lyme Disease and Associated Co-infections like Bartonella Which Likely Are Playing A Role in Some Patients ‘Mysterious’ Brain Disease?
Some of it is misinformation disseminated in the Canadian media, which comes from misunderstanding of these diseases by Canadian Public Health. Again, not malfeasance. Ignorance. Here is a perfect example of misinformation about these diseases from a major Canadian broadcasting network. This comes from The National, CBC’s senior health reporter Christine Birak: ‘Why Do Some Many Celebrities Have Lyme Disease?’ It is a 9 min video that was just released on January 18th, 2026. This is one of the WORST scientifically based news articles I have seen in a while, parroting the IDSA viewpoint that the two-tiered testing is reliable and that there is no such thing as persistent spirochetal infection. Notice in the report from this major news network in Canada, where I got the same news about DDT, pesticides, algal blooms and mold affecting patients in this Canadian province, that Nova Scotia has some of the highest rates of Lyme disease (New Brunswick is located to the west and northwest of Nova Scotia).
Here Are Links to Scientific Articles Refuting This Reporters Views
This comes from Carl Tuttle and a recent Change.org petition labeled: Lyme Disease and Health Care Costs (Deny, deny, deny those claims! You might want to read this.)
1. Peer-Reviewed Evidence of Persistence of Lyme Disease Spirochete
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S7ynlfLzmNCjKpPHQuVsa0-pmG-7nf23/view
The following is a list of over 700 peer-reviewed articles that support the evidence of persistence of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. It is organized into different categories—general, neuropsychiatric, dementia and congenital transmission.
2. Seronegativity in Lyme borreliosis and Other Spirochetal Infections 16 September 2003
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ycqvn5swemanpjau3le2y/Seronegativity.pdf?rlkey=70bkain5zukjadnyeksvmsc96&dl=0
“If false results are to be feared, it is the false negative result.”
3. Congenital Transmission of Lyme
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ybo7c29xr2rjvtpxjh6gd/Congenital-Transmission-of-Lyme.pdf?rlkey=4p1u28pffoe7lofhvxgiowpxw&dl=0
So if the reporter would like to interview me about my upcoming R34 NIH trial to prove that a 9 week oral dapsone combination therapy and the 16-point MSIDS model provides answers for chronic Lyme, and discuss the extensive science refuting her claims, I can be reached at medical@hvhac.com. This is being offered in the spirit of friendship and raising consciousness about the misconceptions of a spreading epidemic. BMJ Global Health reported that 14.5% of the global population (that includes Canada) has been exposed to Lyme and that does not include all the Bartonella or Babesia species making people ill. It is likely Lyme two-tiered testing missed some of these patients and they were never checked for Bartonella.
The Work-up Needed
A 16 point MSIDS review is essential in these types of mystery cases. Apart from the above testing for mold, metals, etc., sending off local tick-borne testing to rule out Lyme usually misses most cases. If a local ELISA and Western blot for Lyme has no Borrelia specific bands (i.e., 23, 31, 34, 39, 83/93 kDa) and a local Bartonella test for B. henselae and B. quintana are negative with no indirect evidence of exposure (positive Bartonella striae on physical exam and/or a positive VEGF) then a specialty lab like IgeneX is needed with an IgM/IgG Immunoblot for Lyme, TBRF, Babesia and Bartonella with a Babesia FISH and Bartonella FISH. If a clinician still suspects Lyme, Babesia (B. odocoilei is in Canada and can’t be picked up on standard testing) then T labs with a Lyme PCR, Babesia odocoilei FISH and Bartonella FISH can be helpful in establishing the diagnosis. This is apart from checking patients for frequently found MSIDS abnormalities like low adrenal function using a salivary DHEA/cortisol test, POTS/dysautonomia (sitting and standing BP and pulse rates can help establish probability) apart from leaky gut, microbiome abnormalities, mitochondrial dysfunction, etc. These can all contribute to the chronic fatiguing, musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, neuropsychiatric symptoms described. This is the workup from the Healthcare paper listed above:
Conclusion
Based on the patients symptomatology, living right next to a highly tick-borne region with frequent mold exposure, wildfire smoke and exposure to pesticides, heavy metals and cyanobacterial toxins, I am fairly certain that a good number of those individuals still suffering with chronic symptoms have chronic infections (Lyme, Bartonella, possibly Babesia) and environmental toxins as the primary drivers of their illness with associated MSIDS Factors listed above. More information on treating Lyme, Babesia and Bartonella can be found below:
Substacks on Lyme:
Babesia:
Bartonella:
I am happy to speak to any treating Canadian physicians who have questions in an order to help these patients recover their health. I do have a consultation model, but be clear, I am not writing this Substack for that purpose. I don’t need or want more work! This Substack was written so patients can get help without using my consultation model! There is no charge for short questions, only extensive review of records and helping with diagnostic and treatment protocols.
https://cangetbetter.com/consulting-services/
Lyme politics in Canada is no different than here in the US. The inability to recognize that we are in the middle of an epidemic of TBDs and toxins and deny the multifactorial nature of chronic illness(es) has impaired patients getting better. I’m fairly sure if the sick patients use the information above, many of you will find the answers you are looking for. If you are one of the Canadian patients who is sick and reads this article, please share it with others who are ill, and if the work-up I am describing does help you, please let me know! Helping others who have failed the medical system gives my life even more meaning….