Mysterious Disease Known As ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Has Effected 150 Kalachi Residents Since 2013 And Disease ‘Could Spread’

The residents of Kalachi village in Kazakhstan are now living in fear as a mysterious disease known as sleepy hollow has erupted yet again. Villagers have considered relocating for their safety, but sources say it could spread, leaving them susceptible to the disease.

Doctors and scientists have yet to find a cure or the cause for the matter. All they’ve unearthed are the fact that the Sleepy Hollow disease forces an individual to fall into a death-like sleep for days, and in some cases, for an entire week, according to MSN.

During their death-like sleep, doctors have stated that some individuals suffer from strokes and as a result have to be placed in intensive care. Once the illness pass, they are back to normal.

Since the sleepy hollow disease was first reported in March 2013, there have already been 40 people who have fallen ill, says BBC. After the last case of a child falling into a death-like sleep, nearly 600 villagers have decided to relocate.

The father of a child who had fallen ill from Sleepy Hollow, Igor Samusenko, says “If you try to wake him, it seems he want to open his eyes, but can’t. He’s sleeping and sleeping.”

The head of district administration, Amanbek Kalzhanov, stated that “Of the 218 families, 124 expressed a desire to relocate. Thirty-four families (95 people), including 27 children, have already left the village.”

A professor from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Leonid Rikhvanov, of the department of Geo-ecology and Geo-chemistry says, “The disease is characterized by the fact that the sickness immerses himself in unusually long sleep, while to bring them into full consciousness is practically impossible on the first day.”

He continues.

“During hospitalisation, people exposed to the disease were marked by identical complaints: dizziness, weakness, loss of coordination, unconsciousness or semiconscious state for up to three days,” Rikhvanov continues. “After passing the first symptoms, they get headaches, become confused, and suffer emotional instability and memory disorders, which can last up to several weeks. In some cases, hallucinations occur, particularly in children. Some repeatedly fall asleep.”

In my opinion, a gas factor is at work here. Radon could be operating as a narcotic substance or an anesthetic. Currently, the underground space of the mine is flooded and gases are being squeezed to the surface.”

“It’s common whenever you have [something] difficult to understand, [something] that you can’t make a diagnosis for, to [think] maybe it’s all in the mind,” stated the co-director of the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme environment medicine, Dr. Kevin Fong.

According to a local media, Yesilsk district demonstration, Amanbek Kalzhanov, stated as follows.

“The ninth wave of the disease has started. Two people, a man and a woman have contracted the disease. Treatment was given to them at the Krasnogorsk hospital. In all 120 people have fallen ill and given the recurrence of the disease the total number stands at 152.”

Although the Sleepy Hollow disease could spread, 600 residents are still preparing to relocate within the next few weeks.

[Image via Rigmarole/Flickr]