By: Joel Hardwick

Kuru is a progressive and fatal neurological disease that originated and is limited to the South Fore People in Papua New Guinea. The brain disease Kuru is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) also commonly referred to as a prion disease. (Arnold,Paul) Kuru is not like most diseases, it is transferred in prion proteins. Kuru is like Mad Cow diseases in that sense.

 The man who discovered prions was Stanley Prusiner, he won the Nobel peace price for is studies on prions. He made a hypothesis that states TSEs are abnormally folded form of prion proteins, all of which have normal forms present in all forms. (Mo) This abnormal protein, because of its folding, is insoluble and prone to clumping. These clumps in the brain cause the symptoms because they make brain cells unable to properly conduct nervous impulses

 The South Fore People took part in ritual acts of mortuary cannibalism. In this ritual the male tribesmen directly related to the deceased would consume the legs, arms and such, but the women, children, and elderly would only eat the brain. Since Kuru is a neurological disorder the disease mostly resides in the brain. Thus the women, children, and elderly are the ones who get the disease most often.

 The symptoms of Kuru consist of three main stages. The first is the ambulant stage, it includes symptoms such as unsteadiness of stance, gait, voice, hands, and eyes; deterioration of speech; tremors; shivering; incoordination of lower extremities that moves slowly upward; and dysarthria (slurring of speech) (Mcgrath) The second is the sedentary stage, symptoms are; patient can no longer stand without being helped, more severe tremors and ataxia (loss of coordination of muscles), shock like muscle jerks, emotional lability, outbursts of laughter, depression, and mental slowing. (Mcgrath)

 The third and final is the terminal stage, it is marked with the patients inability to sit up without being helped; more severe ataxia even more sever tremors and dysarthria; urinary and fecal incontinence; dysphagia (difficulty swallowing); and deep ulcerations appear. (Mcgrath) The cause of these symptoms are cerebellar dysfunctions. Kuru has an abnormally long incubation period. Symptoms, in humans, show up as early as two years to as late as twenty three years. However, after the symptoms appear the patient usually has three months to two years to live.

 As of now there is no known treatment or cure for Kuru or any other TSEs. There is also no way of controlling the spread of Kuru, however with the cessation of cannibalistic rituals the number of infected persons has diminished.

 The article Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease An unknown disease appeared in Papua New Guinea in the early 1900s. Around the 1950s the Australian government discovered the south fore tribe, which at the time consisted of 8,000 people. During this time was the height of the Kuru illness. The team that discovered the tribe was fascinated and eventually found out the way it was getting transmitted was through the cannibalistic rituals performed on deceased relatives. Many studied this disease. A man named Lindenbaum worked with the fore people to learn more about this disease. Eventually it was found that Kuru was neurodegenerative disorder that was caused by the abnormal clumping of prion proteins. Kuru has three main stages and has a variety of symptoms. Over 1,100 died from Kuru. Most were women because they were the ones who ate the brains, along with the children and elderly. Kuru has a long incubation period, however once the symptoms appear the victim as a maximum of two years to live. As of now there is no cure for Kuru

 Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Protein was the most helpful of all the articles I looked at. This article goes into great detail about what a prion protein actually is and how, if abnormally folded, can affect the brain. I found that the abundance of symptoms, and the fact that it was transmitted through cannibalism was interesting. I also learned the difference between CJD (Cruetzfeldt-jakob disease) and Kuru. However they do have some similar symptoms Kuru is deadly. Overall this article was great and I learned about Kuru and prion proteins

 Arnold, Paul, What is Kuru Disease? A Look at the Brain Disease Kuru. Brighthub.com. Web. 22 November 2009 Mcgrath, Kuru the Dynamics of a Prion Disease. Anthropology.ua.edu. Web. Mo, Cannibalism and the Shaking Death: A New Form of the Disease and a Possible epidemic Scienceblogs.com. Web. 11 August 2008