kuru

noun

ku·​ru ˈku̇r-(ˌ)ü 

: 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

Examples of kuru in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The company name comes from the Japanese phrase ‘pin to kuru,’ meaning when an idea clicks. —Patrick Frater, Variety, 29 May 2023

For a late breakfast or early lunch, meander over to Mimar Sinan, one of several nearby restaurants specializing in kuru fasülye, white beans stewed in olive oil and tomato sauce and served with rice pilaf. —Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Dec. 2018

At least, with kuru, the cannibalism comes at the beginning. —Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 25 Jan. 2018

When Prusiner started work on them, it had been established that Creutzfeldt-Jakob, kuru and a sheep disease called scrapie could be transmitted by infected brains, but nobody knew what caused it. —Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 6 Oct. 2017

But there are other infectious forms: scrapie in sheep, kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. —Michael Nedelman, CNN, 19 Sep. 2017

The disease predominantly struck women and children, who customarily handled the brains and organs of dead kuru victims during Fore funerals. —Special To The Washington Post, The Denver Post, 6 Apr. 2017

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. —Wired Staff, WIRED, 1 Oct. 2006

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. —Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6 July 2017

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Word History

Etymology

Fore (language of eastern highland Papua New Guinea)

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

kuru

noun

ku·​ru ˈku̇(ə)r-(ˌ)ü 

: 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