People migrating from Kalachi village of Kazakhstan after mysterious illness “Sleepy Hollow” erupted again
Monitoring Desk: People of remote Kazakh village Kalachi is migrating and relocating to a far place as mysterious disease known as “Sleepy Hollow” has erupted again, reports Dispatch News Desk news agency.
Kalachi village is located in Esil district of North Kazakhstan Province situated in northern Kazakhstan. Medical experts say that Sleepy Hollow surfaced ninth times in this village during the last two years. Though cause of this disease is still unknown but some experts believe that Soviet-era uranium mines situated in the area can be the reason as seeping mines are releasing radon gas. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that is created through the decay of uranium. Breathing it is believed to cause lung cancer. Radon gas causes toxic effects, pushes a person into a dreamlike state, and the person falls asleep and feels hallucinations, memory loss, dizziness and nausea.
Residents mostly children and elderly persons fall to sleep under the influence of “Sleepy Hollow” disease in broad daylight, and some of them are unable to wake up for days on end. According to head of district administration Amanbek Kalzhanov, as many as 120 people have fallen ill again and now over 600 inhabitants of the village have agreed to move to other areas.
“Of the 218 families, 124 expressed a desire to relocate. Thirty-four families (95 people), including 27 children, have already left the village,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the first cases of the “Sleepy Hollow” were reported in March 2013.
Groups of scientists and medics, including virologists, radiologists and toxicologists, have visited the village in an attempt to find the cause of the mystery illness, all in vain.
However the radiation levels in the town and at the mine closest to it are at a normal 16 micro-roentgen per hour and analysis of water, soil, and vegetation samples did not detect any abnormalities. Therefore reason for sleepiness is still mysterious and unresolved.
