Inside STAT: An outbreak hit Uganda, then disappeared. Disabled kids — and a mystery — remain 

MARGARET ARACH, WHO HAS TWO CHILDREN WITH NODDING SYNDROME. (ESTHER RUTH MBABAZI)

Just as mysteriously as it had appeared in a small pocket in Northern Uganda two decades ago, the disease that came to be known as nodding syndrome also disappeared. No new cases of the disease — which causes seizures several times a day and the neck muscles in children to temporarily go limp — have been reported since 2015. But the thousands of children who were affected continue to live with disabilities. Their parents and caregivers are also dealing with the after effects because the children — who are at constant risk of a seizure — require constant supervision. The disease has no cure thus far, but theories about its origins abound, from a parasitic worm to the toxicity from weapons used in previous conflict in the area. STAT’s Jacquelyn Corley has more here.