At least one hundred and five cases of nodding syndrome have been confirmed in Maridi state, health authorities have announced.

This is about 50 percent increase since the disease was reported 2 months ago.

The symptoms of the disease are found among those suffering from epilepsy, Maridi Health Minister Hosea Dimo told Eye Radio.

“Patients reporting with epilepsy are screened and classified by doctors to tell whether the patient is having nodding syndrome or not,” Mr Dimo said.

“Some months back the team managed to screen at least 265 patients. From these 265 patients, 105 of them are confirmed cases of nodding syndrome.”

He added that a team of doctors has been deployed to deal with the disease.

Nodding Syndrome is a neurological condition with unknown etiology.

It was first documented in Tanzania in the 1960s, then later in South Sudan in the 1990s and in northern Uganda in 2007.

Typically, the disease affects children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old, causing progressive cognitive dysfunction, neurological deterioration, stunted growth and a characteristic nodding of the head.