Causes
Kuru is believed to be caused by prions and is related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). It is best known for the epidemic that occurred in Papua New Guinea in the middle of the twentieth century, and earlier. Although it is considered a transmissible prion disease, there is some evidence that the origin of the outbreak was due to eating a human being (cannibalism) with sporadic CJD, thus implying a common pathophysiology.
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