Epidemic hysteria in a Zambian school: "the mysterious madness of Mwinilunga".

The authors were sent to Mwinilunga from Ndola to investigate what was reported to the local press as "mysterious madness". The condition was actually an outbreak of epidemic hysteria which was triggered off by a group of girls who were having educational and emotional problems prior to the epidemic. A change in the administrative policy of rigidly segregating the sexes apparently prepared an emotionally charged background for the rapid spread of the illness. The salient features and management of the epidemic are discussed.