Mysterious Illness Strikes Uganda! (Turns Children Into Violent "Zombies")

World Health Organization is on high alert about
new Ugandan outbreak, cause is not fully known

It's called the "nodding disease" and it's a
baffling illness that has struck thousands of
children in northern Uganda. The illness brings on
seizures, violent behavior, personality changes,
and a host of other unusual symptoms.

I. Violent and Mindless: Child Victims Have no
Cure, no Future

Grace Lagat, a northern Uganda native, is mother
of two children -- Pauline Oto and Thomas -- both
of whom are victims of the disease. For their
safety, when she leaves the house, she now ties
them up, using fabric like handcuffs. She recalls,
"When I am going to the garden, I tie them with
cloth. If I don't tie them I come back and find
that they have disappeared."

Reportedly the children gnaw at their fabric
restraints, like a rabid animals -- or "zombies"
of popular fiction -- in an attempt to escape.

The effort to restrain the children is not
unwarranted. In one of the most bizarre symptoms
of this tragic illness, children with the disease
are reportedly setting fire to buildings in their
communities. Coupled with the aimless wandering
this disease provokes in victims, this is a deadly
combination. More than 200 people have been killed
in fires believed to be set by the zombified
children.