Western doctors are at a loss

While Western doctors are at a loss as to how to treat this mysterious illness, Doña Porcela says she can cure people with her concoction.

"It can be drunk or bathed in," she said. "Within three or four days, they are normal again."

Using her herbs and candles, she performs a cleansing ceremony on sufferers and, often, on their houses too - akin to an exorcism.

She travels anywhere anxious parents ask her to come, such as Lola Emberto's home, set among palms trees and red earth in Barrio Pobre, a poor suburb of Puerto Cabezas.

"For four months, my children were affected," said Mrs Emberto.

"I couldn't sleep or eat. My daughter was just running around like a maniac. She tore off all her clothes.

"One time, she fell into the well while suffering an attack.

"Other times, she'd run into the bush or into the river and people would try to catch her when they could."

Both her 18-year-old son and her 13-year-old daughter were affected.

Black magic

Mrs Emberto, like many Miskito people, believes in black magic and that Doña Porcela lifted a curse to cure her children.