Causes of 'sleeping sickness' in Kazakhstan looked for underground

The head of the georadioecological research group of the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan, Medet Aktayev, said that scientists have drilled 12 wells to take samples of soil and water to solve the mystery of 'sleeping sickness' in the village of Kalachi in eastern Kazakhstan.

Samples from wells have recently been sent for examination to the National Nuclear Center of the Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology (town of Kurchatov in East Kazakhstan region).

"Preliminary tests will be ready in July-August. But already now we can see changes in the water temperature in different places. We also found carbon monoxide in underground air," Medet Aktayev said.

Scientists cannot determine the cause of the 'sleeping sickness'. One of the main theories is carbon monoxide poisoning.

The village of Kalachi became famous all over the world because of an unexplained sleeping sickness in March 2013. People fall asleep and it is not possible to wake them up for a few hours or days. When they do awaken, they continue to suffer from drowsiness, memory loss and fatigue.