Essay About Kuru

Introduction and Biology

Kuru is a progressive, fatal, brain disease that was discovered in the 1950s. This disease was discovered by the American Physician Carleton Gajdusek among the people of eastern highlands of New Guinea. Kuru is a disease caused by the consumption of contaminated brain tissue. Kuru is one of a group of rare brain diseases called the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE’s). TSE’s, leads to forming tiny holes in the brain tissue giving it a spongy look.

History

It is believed that Kuru began in a remote region of the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea. When it was first observed in 1957 it was found to be in epidemic proportions. There were nearly 1000 deaths in the first five years, between 1957- 1961. Currently this doesn’t occur like it used to. The elders at one point did consume human meat, the rest of the community have not. The reason they used to this was because someone did something to them so they did it to get even; or they believed the woman/ man practiced witch craft. They did not practice cannibalism as a ritual, or because they liked it. They believed that since they killed the person, it was best not to let the food go to waste, so they consumed it.

Transmission and Risk

The risk of kuru is really low due to the fact that cannibalism is so rare. The way this disease transmits is throughout contaminated human brain. When a person consumes the brain of a contaminated person then the disease is transmitted. The disease then makes its way through the nervous system and eventually attacks the brain.

Signs and Symptoms

The average incubation period for this disease can be from 10 to 13 years, but incubation periods of 50 years or more have been reported. Some of the symptoms...

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...man brain at all. Another would be if working at a pathology office, try not to touch the body without gloves. Because if there is an open wound the bacteria might go through.

Works Cited/ Bibliography

"Kuru: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.

"NINDS Kuru Information Page." Kuru Information Page: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014

Piers, Gibbon. "Eating with Cannibals | National Geographic Channel." National Geographic Channel. N.p., 2010. Web. 13 May 2014.

Wilson, Walter., and Merle A. Sande. Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Infectious Diseases. New York: McGraw Hill,2001.

Chamberlin, Stacey L., and Brigham Narins. The Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005. Print.

Works Cited