Definition of kuru
: a rare progressive fatal prion disease that resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and has occurred among tribespeople in eastern New Guinea who engaged in a form of ritual cannibalism
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Recent Examples of kuru from the Web
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In the 1950s, D. Carleton Gajdusek, an American research scientist, traveled to Papua New Guinea to study a disease called kuru that infected as many as 2,500 natives in the highlands.
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The disease predominantly struck women and children, who customarily handled the brains and organs of dead kuru victims during Fore funerals.
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These mysterious misfolded proteins are thought to cause kuru, scrapie, and mad cow disease, as well as the fatal insomnia referred to in the title.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kuru.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of kuru
Fore (language of eastern highland Papua New Guinea)
Medical Dictionary
kuru
playMedical Definition of kuru
: a rare progressive fatal prion disease that resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and has occurred among tribespeople in eastern New Guinea who engaged in a form of ritual cannibalism—called also laughing death, laughing sickness
Learn More about kuru
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about kuru
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