Africa's walking dead: Mystery of horrific 'nodding' disease that turns children into zombies

 A mystery disease is turning an increasing number of children in east Africa into zombies.

The condition, known by locals as the 'nodding disease', drastically alters children's personalities by making them withdrawn and confused.

One of the first symptoms of the illness, affecting children in northern Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania, is that children appear to be falling asleep - their eyes close and head droops, even though they may not be tired.

The condition gets progressively worse and can cause affected children, generally aged between five and 15, to fall and injure themselves

Many die by losing consciousness and have horrific accidents, like falling into a cooking fire or drowning.

The condition first came to the attention of Ugandan authorities in 2009 and has confounded officials with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Saweka and the Ugandan government mobilized teams from WHO, CDC, and local health teams but there is still no known cause or cure for the disease.

Doctors are using drugs for controlling epilepsy with some limited success but they say it only slows the progression of symptoms.