Look, I know this is serious. There are people hurting and dying because of this disease. However, I’d be amiss if I didn’t point out the similarities between the Zombie mythos and the symptoms these people exhibit.
Severe seizures, nodding off, lack of appetite, personality changes, having to bind the kids down to keep them from wandering off , aversions to strange food, fire starters…ok, so not all of them fit, but enough to make it fall into that area of the unknown that scares the hell out of us.
It appears to be widespread, affecting large numbers and the manner of transmission is unknown.
…more than 3,000 other children in Northern Uganda, has been struck by the mysterious syndrome that has doctors and scientists puzzled and has shattered lives in this rural community.
Nodding disease gets its name from the strange nodding-like symptoms that children display in the first stages of a seizure. But doctors on the ground and at the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that is the least profound effect.
Severe epilepsy-like seizures grip the children, they struggle to eat, and they become shells of their former selves. It is a progressive and debilitating syndrome that robs children of their future.
The seizures are triggered in strange ways, say community members, such as when unfamiliar food is brought to the children or when the weather changes.
There are other bizarre symptoms. Often the children will wander off by themselves and get lost in the bush. And other children will start fires, according to parents and medics in the field. Others appear confused and traumatized.
Wikipedia says that is has been spreading across numerous African countries for many years
Whatever the case, it truly is a tragedy.
