Sleeping disease persists in secluded village in northern Kazakhstan

A mysterious "sleeping disease" has been causing drowsiness, hallucination and partial memory loss among hundreds of residents in the secluded Kalachi village in north Kazakhstan. Despite numerous attempts by scientists to explain the nature of the disease, none has been successful so far.

"Sleeping disease" first broke out in early 2013. Since then more than 150 cases have been reported in this small village with a population of about 680.

According to reports from Interfax and Kazakh Telegraph Agency, medical experts examining the patients said sleeping disease is caused by "brain disease of unknown nature", but ruled out the possibilities of biological infections. Nuclear and environmental scientists who investigated the area reported no abnormal level of radiation nor strange concentration of toxic elements.

Recently a leading Russian expert who has been treating patients from Kalachi said the "sleeping disease" could be caused by small amounts of radon gas seeping from an abandoned uranium mine located only hundreds of meters from the village.

Geo-ecology Professor Leonid Rikhvanov told media that the mine near Kalachi is flooded and the gas that used to fill the mine could be emitting onto the surface. But he also emphasized that this is only a theory and not yet proven.

Meanwhile, Kalachi's local authorities announced in January a plan to relocate all residents into neighboring towns and villages starting from 2015.

The village of Kalachi is located only 600 meters away from the Soviet-era mine city of Krasnogorsk, which had been producing uranium ores from 1960 to 1990. The mine was closed after the dissolution of Soviet Union. Endite