The whole world now knows about Kalachi (каз. Калачи) a village that in Soviet times was not even drawn on geographical maps, because the inhabitants of this mysterious place were hit by an epidemic - sleeping.
Four decades ago, the village of Kalachi in Kazakhstan was a real little paradise on earth. The place was full of flowers and greenery, next to the beautiful buildings there were numerous fountains, local shops were full of the best imported goods, which then you could not find even in the largest cities of the Soviet Union. The villagers wore Yugoslav leather shoes, which even famous Moscow actresses could only dream of!
Kalachi residents bought new cars every 2-3 years. At that time, many Soviet citizens could not afford a car for the rest of their lives.
That paradise was not marked on the map. The village of Kalachi was a secret place because there was a uranium mine near it, where the majority of the population worked.
In the past 30 years, life in Kalachi has changed. The village no longer looks like a paradise, but resembles a decoration for a horror movie: instead of flowers, there is a desert here, instead of beautiful buildings, there are ruins, dried fountains are full of garbage. Out of almost 7,000 inhabitants who lived in Kalachi and the "annexed" small town of Krasnogorsk, only 700 people remained.
The dark ambience hides a dark secret. In Kalachi, the medieval legend of the Sleeping Beauty turned into reality. Many villagers have fallen victim to a mysterious epidemic - sleep. In broad daylight, people suddenly fall asleep: someone faints at work, someone falls asleep while walking, someone starts snoring in the middle of a conversation. When they come to their senses, people act like they are drunk.
Ljubov Beljkova was the first victim of this disease. On April 9, 2010, they fainted in the market. Doctors placed her in resuscitation, and she slept there for 4 days. When she came to, she couldn't think of anything. After 4 months, she fell asleep again for a few days, after another 3 months - again. And so she experienced a total of 7 attacks of that disease. Almost every time, doctors diagnosed him with a stroke. How many strokes can a woman experience? People with such a diagnosis are usually paralyzed, but she was not paralyzed.
Soon after the first case, other residents of Kalachi began to fall asleep. But village doctors continued to claim that it was a stroke or vodka.
Some of the symptoms of the disease are reminiscent of alcohol poisoning. The man staggers, loses orientation, speaks incoherently. That is why it is easy to be misled.
When the mysterious syndrome began to affect small children, doctors were forced to admit - this is not about alcohol.
Children have the hardest time with this disease. Many children hallucinate and become very aggressive when they wake up.
Sometimes doctors are forced to tie small patients to the bed because they become dangerous primarily for themselves. It is unbearable to see sick children hallucinate, mothers say. One child shouts that there are many snakes in the bed, another asks why light bulbs fly around the room, a third cries that worms have eaten his hands, a fourth says that he sees a trunk and eight eyes on his mother's face…
In September 2014, seven students fainted in front of the school at the same time. It became clear that Kalachi was an epidemic. Village doctors sought help from colleagues from the capital. An examination of patients from Kalachi was conducted in Astana. The victims of the unknown disease were given a new diagnosis: "encephalopathy of unknown cause". None of the peasants knew exactly what that meant.
However, in Kalachi and Krasnogorsk, where there are a total of about 700 inhabitants, 157 cases of the mysterious disease were officially recorded. Some residents have already "slept" several times. In addition, the animals began to faint.
Theory of three elements
As for men, many of them feel uncontrolled sexual desire when they come to themselves.
A series of strange symptoms confused scientists. Experts were trying to find out the cause of the epidemic. Initially, a viral or bacterial infection was suspected, but this theory has not been proven. However, this case reminded scientists of the epidemic of lethargic encephalitis, which affected many people in Europe and America from 1915 to 1926. The patients suddenly fell into a sleepy state, which resembled lethargy. Doctors then assumed that it was a virus, but they could not identify it. The cause of the disease was never found. The epidemic of lethargic encephalitis in 1927 ended abruptly on its own. Then, one interesting detail was presented - experts suggested that Hitler was also infected with this type of disease. According to the doctor, lethargic encephalitis caused harmful changes in the Führer's brain, which played a crucial role in making his decisions.
As for Kalachi, scientists have not been able to find any virus that could be "to blame" for the epidemic in that village. So they decided to draw attention to the uranium mine, which is located near Kalachi.
After a detailed research, experts from the Kazakhstan Nuclear Center stated that radiation is definitely not the "trigger" of the disease because its level near the mine is within the norm.
After that, the scientists found the "main suspect" - radon gas, which erupts to the surface from the depths of the mine and has a toxic effect similar to narcotics. In Kalachi, they noticed an increased concentration of radon, but the theory that this gas poisons the locals was eventually rejected. Experts from Moscow and Prague concluded that radon did not cause sleeping sickness.
More than 7,000 analyzes were conducted in Kalachi, but experts were unable to find anything unusual, except for the increased concentration of carbon monoxide in some areas.
According to experts, wood stoves and stoves are "responsible" for the increased concentration of carbon monoxide.
This theory explains why people suddenly fall asleep, but not why they hallucinate. Can carbon dioxide cause hallucinations?
They assume that this is the third element. It is most likely one of the saturated hydrocarbons, for example methane or propane. The wave of the sleep epidemic begins at the very moment when three factors coincide: low oxygen concentration, increased level of carbon monoxide and excess hydrocarbons.
The Kazakh government has officially accepted the "three elements" theory. Officials said: the mystery has been solved, the case is closed.
But for the inhabitants of Kalachi, this theory is - suspicious. People assume that scientists simply do not have enough sensitive devices for research, and believe that the real cause of the disease has not yet been found.
Some residents have already moved to other places. Others, who do not have money for a new house, are anxiously waiting for spring.
Very interesting story. I have never heard about this before.