Oh glorious Kazakhstan, the home of Borat and his sister, the number four prostitute in all the country. Now Kazakhstan faces a far more serious problem than an actor taking the piss at their expense: citizens are falling into deep sleeps for no apparent reason and everyone is baffled.

The northern village of Kalachi is the worst affected by what is being dubbed ‘sleeping sickness’, with up to a quarter of the town’s population having fallen victim to the sometimes days-long unexplained slumbers. This from Mashable:

Scientists and doctors have flown into Kalachi to determine the root of the illness, but after conducting several tests ranging from environmental toxicity to patient data, results have been unsubstantial. Bacterial and viral tests have come up negative, knocking out the possibility that this is a parasitic disease such as African trypanosomiasis, which has similar effects. So beyond a few hunches, scientists don’t have much explanation for what’s going on.

Since 2012, when the first instance war recorded, 122 villagers have suffered the so far incurable affliction. In what resembles something out of ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ residents are apparently terrified of falling asleep. The disease has come in waves with eight schoolchildren falling asleep within an hour last September and 60 people on one day months later.

There are a few popular theories for the ‘sleeping sickness’ which include wind blowing from a nearby abandoned uranium mine (pictured above), excessive carbon monoxide due to strange weather conditions or mass hysteria.

I’m not really surprised at the schoolchildren falling asleep on the first day of school (we’ve all been there) but it does seem like there is something mysterious affecting this small village. Thankfully I doubt any of the movies that made Freddie Krueger famous have reached Kazakhstan yet. Small victories…

[source:mashable]