Did you know you're probably infected with a brain-eating virus?
Good morning from the gateway — Lake Simcoe's awake, the 400 is already packed, and Barrie's got growing pains. Let's talk about it. Okay, so here's what's actually happening: New research is out, and it's suggesting that a *fatal* brain infection, one we previously thought only happened in folks with severely compromised immune systems, might actually be way more common. I'm talking about the JC virus, and it causes something called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. It's really rare, thankfully, but here's the kicker: Apparently, most of us — like, 80% of adults — are carrying this virus around, totally dormant, and we don't even know it!
### This is Wild
So, the new thinking is that this virus isn't just waiting for your immune system to crash to activate. The latest research, out of Brown University, has shown that even in people with perfectly normal immune systems, the JC virus can cause this nasty brain infection. They found the virus DNA in the brain tissue of patients who died from causes *other* than PML, which is just... wow. It means the virus can hang out in your brain, silently, without causing issues until something, and we don't fully know what yet, triggers it.
* Most adults (around 80%) are silent carriers of the JC virus.
* The virus can lead to PML, a fatal brain infection.
* New research suggests PML can occur even in people with healthy immune systems.
* Scientists are still trying to figure out what triggers the dormant virus.
Can you even imagine? We're all just walking around, heading to the farmers' market at City Hall, or trying to beat the traffic on Mapleview Drive, with a dormant brain-eating virus. It makes you think about all the unseen things around us, doesn't it? Like, we worry about the clarity of Lake Simcoe's water, or whether another 3,000 units approved on the south end are going to overload our infrastructure, and meanwhile, this is lurking! It's a reminder that sometimes the biggest threats aren't the ones you can see or debate at a council meeting.
Tara and the crew unpack stories like this on the morning show — catch it live at mornings.live.