Mystery Illness in Chechnya, page 1

A mystery illness has spread through an area of Chechnya. The illness has affected 93 children. They have violent seizures and trouble breathing. The Government has determined it's mass hysteria due to the fact that these children have suffered severe emotional stress due to war.

www.latimes.com
SHELKOVSKAYA, Russia — It started just after the midafternoon recess. As they lined up to return to class, Zareta Chimiyeva saw a girl in front of her collapse and begin convulsing wildly. Only a few minutes later, Zareta was at her desk when she smelled "a bad smell," and started feeling ill.

They have yet to get better. The outbreak began Dec. 16, and doctors and parents say the children are still suffering fits day and night. The list of victims has grown to 93, including several teachers and janitors, with a small number of cases reported as far away as the Chechen capital, Grozny, and Urus-Martan, 60 miles to the southwest.

After exhaustive chemical and radiation tests, authorities with the Moscow-backed government announced that the culprit was not poison, but a form of mass hysteria. The whole episode was triggered, most doctors now believe, by the extreme and chronic levels of stress among children who have experienced a war with Moscow that lasted more than 10 years and its devastating economic aftermath.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I have heard stories of mass hysteria before, and emotionally these children have probably experienced terrible sights and trauma. Is it possible that all of these children are experiencing this? Is it possible that this is some sort of chemical reaction?

At this point I'm not buying the whole mass hysteria explaination.

[edit on 14-3-2006 by asala]