Russian scientists to help ascertain the cause of sleeping sickness in Akmola region

09:33, 4 March 2014

TOMSK. KAZINFORM Tomsk scientists will come to Kazakhstan this spring to study and find out the cause of sleeping sickness in the Kalachi village of Yessil district, Akmola region, professor of the Tomsk National Research Polytechnic University Leonid Rikhvanov told Kazinform correspondent.

"We have maintained cooperation with the Kazakh Nuclear Medicine and Ecology Institute. The institute addressed with the request to help ascertain the cause of the sickness. I had consulted with doctors, examined the patients' medical histories. It is true that the village is situated in the area of the depleted abandoned uranium fields," he said.

Besides, the professor considers that other factors could have caused the mass sickness. Radiation background of the village and the surrounding territories was measured though it gave no results. According to the professor, it is crucial to take samples of air, soil and water to test for the content of uranium, high density metals and various chemical elements in April-May when all snow melted away. "We will help in analyzing. It is possible to find out the cause of the sleep syndrome if we apply the complex approach."

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