Mysterious nodding disease afflicts young Ugandans

In this photo dated, Feb. 16, 2012, shows Dr. Scott Dowel, director of Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response Division speaks at a news conference on nodding disease in Uganda’s capital Kampala. Uganda this week hosts a four-day international conference on nodding syndrome that health officials believe will lead to a clearer understanding of the mysterious disease. The disease is called nodding syndrome, or nodding head disease, because those who have it nod their heads and sometimes go into epileptic-like fits. The disease stunts children and destroys their cognition, rendering them unable to perform small tasks. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)