Uganda launches investigation into "nodding disease"

Jan 4, 2012, 17:09 GMT

Kampala - Ugandan authorities have began an investigation into a mysterious disease that has left about 3,000 victims, mainly children, nodding their heads continuously, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Medical and government authorities have so far failed to explain the cause and mode of transmission of the disease that has been attacking children between the ages of five and 15 in the districts of Pader and Kitgum, in the north.

'Over 3,000 people have been affected by this nodding disease. (The) government has launched an investigation into the disease and we are going to release a statement next week,' Rukia Nakamatte, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told dpa.

According to the Daily Monitor newspaper, in the past two years, 60 people have died from the disease. The illness causes the victims' hands to shake repeatedly. They also nod their heads continuously and later faint.

The newspaper said in its report Wednesday that it could be a result of toxic substances emitted from firearms during the 20-year rebellion launched by insurgents against government forces.

The publication quoted local residents as saying they believed it could be the spirits of people killed by the rebels which were haunting the civilians.

The civil waged by the Lord's Resistance Army in the region left tens of thousands of people dead, mutilated, raped or tortured by the rebels, while more than 2 million others across eastern Africa were displaced.