Kuru is a
disease caused by
prions. It was found among women and children in
Papua New Guinea, presumably caused by
cannibalism. It is related to
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and, in animals,
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("Mad Cow Disease").
Kuru was first studied by the Nobel Prize winner Carleton Gajdusek. It is always fatal, with the duration of illness lasting 3 to 12 months from the diagnosis of the first symptons to death.