Kuru A PRION DISEASE

What is Kuru? Kuru is a rare and fatal brain disorder that occurred at epidemic levels during the 1950s-60s among the Fore people in the highlands of New Guinea. Family cook and ate deceased family member’s body tissue and brain.

Kuru Region

Causative Microbial Agent Kuru is caused by a prion and serves as a prototype for a group of prion diseases like scrapie in sheep, transmissible mink spongiform encephalopathy, bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE] or mad cow disease.

The brain with holes as a result from Kuru

Symptoms Kuru may begin with difficulty walking and increasing incoordination, which eventually become severe. Tremors and muscle jerks are often seen in the later stages of the disease. Difficulty swallowing and inability to feed oneself lead to malnutrition or starvation. The incubation period (the time it takes until symptoms develop) for this disease can be up to 30 years or longer. Death, however, usually occurs within a year after the onset of symptoms.

The effects of Kuru include congestion of blood vessels, seen here, and in long-standing cases, cortical atrophy, not obvious here.

Treatment There were no treatments that could control or cure Kuru, other than discouraging the practice of cannibalism. Currently, there are no cures or treatments for any of the other TSE diseases.

The End Applause