2024-01-16 16:52:31
Kuru is a disease of the brain tissue caused by a prion, an infectious protein particle, which is part of a class of infectious diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Practically eliminated, this neuropathy was a consequence of cannibalism derived from a funerary ritual in indigenous peoples of New Guinea.
A woman visits the “Brain(s)” exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB). EFE/ Enric Fontcuberta
According to information from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases of the United States, kuru is a rare brain disease that had some epidemic level between the 1950s and 1960s in towns in the highlands of New Guinea.
And it arose from the practice of a cannibalism ritual when the relatives of a deceased person ate parts of him, including the brain where prions or deformed proteins that cause infection are concentrated.
The disease has practically remained since these cannibalism practices were persecuted in the aforementioned decade by the authorities of that island located north of Australia.
Kuru was the first human encephalopathy investigated among the group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, among the most unknown of which are Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle (also known as “mad cow” disease).
The symptoms
Because kuru primarily affected the cerebellum, which is responsible for coordination, the first symptoms were usually unsteady gait, tremors, and slurred speech.
Unlike most other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, dementia was minimal or nonexistent, reports the US National Institute of Neurological Diseases.
Mood swings often occurred. Eventually, the individuals became unable to stand or eat and died in a coma six to 12 months after symptoms first appeared.
Nobel Prize for researching kuru
The 1976 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded jointly to Baruch S. Blumberg and Carleton Gajdusek for their discoveries on new mechanisms for the origin and spread of infectious diseases, according to the Nobel Prizes organization’s website.
Scientist Carleton Gajdusek studied kuru and concluded that it was spread through the ritual consumption of deceased relatives. He managed to transmit the infection to chimpanzees in the 1960s.
The long period, often several years, between exposure to infection and contraction of the disease indicated that this was a previously unknown type of infectious agent.
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