Definition

Kuru is the name of a progressively disabling and ultimately fatal brain infection caused by a unique protein particle called a prion.

Description

Kuru was first described in a specific tribal group in Papua, New Guinea. The word "kuru" means "to shake or tremble" in this tribal group's language. Individuals in New Guinea are believed to have acquired the infection through a cannibalistic ritual involving the blood and brains of deceased tribal members.

Because infection with kuru may occur years or decades before the advent of actual symptoms of the disease, it belongs to a group of diseases originally known as slow virus infections. Currently, slow virus infections are classed together as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). TSEs include kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,...