kuru
Last reviewed 01/2018
Kuru is one of the human spongiform encephalopathies, along with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler- Scheinker syndrome and fatal familial insomnia.
The condition is restricted to the Fore liguistic group on the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea, where it is commonest. Its transmission has been related to ritualistic cannibalism, and its incidence has decreased since the practice ceased in the 1950's.
The condition is characterised by a "shivering tremor" and cerebellar type ataxia which progresses to complete motor incapacity and death from intercurrent illness or malnutrition within a year.