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Kuru Was Passed On At Funeral Feasts In Papua New Guinea

At Those Feasts Families Ate The Bodies Of Their Own Dead

Among The Fore People A Body Could Also Be Buried

It Could Be Placed In A Basket Or On A Platform In A Grove

Or It Could Be Eaten By Relatives

Researchers Call Eating The Body Transumption

They Say Cannibalism Can Be Seen As An Offensive Term In This Setting

In Their Account Transumption Was A Religious Practice With Rituals

It Was Done Out Of Love And Respect For The Dead And Their Family

Another Paper Says Eating The Dead Let Mourners Show Their Love

It Also Let Them Express Their Grief

Every Way Of Disposing Of A Body Ended In It Being Eaten

Worms Consumed A Buried Body

Maggots Consumed A Body Left On A Platform

The Fore Thought It Much Better For Loved Ones To Eat The Body

Not Every Researcher Gave The Same Reason For The Practice

Robert Glasse Wrote That The Dead Were Eaten For Gastronomic Reasons

Early Studies Suggested It Had No Ritual Or Spiritual Role

Later Work Said It Was Eaten Out Of Love And Also For Taste

Enjoying The Taste Was A Result And Not The Intended Purpose

Women And Children Were The Main Participants In Transumption

That Explained Why The Disease Was So Common In Those Groups

They Ate The Brain And Spinal Cord And Internal Organs

That Was True In Almost Every Fore Community

In Several Neighbouring Groups Only Older Women Ate Those Parts

A Hole Was Made In The Top Of The Skull With A Stone

One Of The Older Women Then Slowly Removed The Brain

Her Hand Was Wrapped In Ferns

The Brain Was Considered A Delicacy

Children Demanded Some And Their Mothers Indulged Them Out Of Love

Yet The Brain Contained Most Of The Infectious Agent

Eating It Was Largely Responsible For Passing On Kuru

Children Under 3 Were Never Fed Any Part Of The Body

Those Aged 3 To 6 Were Indulged Though Not Meant To Eat The Brain

Brain Tissue Was Believed To Stop Children From Growing Properly

The Rule Against It Was Enforced In Some Areas But Not In Others

Some Even Believed Brain Was Good For Young Children's Growth

One Study Says Boys Took Part With Their Mothers Until Age 6 To 8

They Then Moved To The Warriors' House After Their First Initiation

Another Account Puts Their Move To The Men's House At About Age 10

In The South Fore Adult Men Rarely Ate Human Flesh

Those Who Did Said They Avoided The Bodies Of Women

Eating Was Largely Limited To Adult Women And Children And A Few Men

That Pattern Matched Who Developed Kuru In The Early 1960s

Australian Authorities Summarily Banned Transumption In The 1950s

Researchers Say Its End Explains Why Kuru Declined

One Researcher Wrote That Government Patrol Officers Suppressed It

He Added That Most Transmission Had Ceased By 1957

That Was The Year The Kuru Research Programme Began

The Practice Did Not End Everywhere At Once

By The 1950s It Had Ceased In The North Fore

It Was Still Practised In Secret In The South Fore

People There Said They Hid And Ate Dead Kin Through The 1950s

Another Account Says That Lasted Until A Road Came In The Mid 1950s

Government Control Reached The Central North Fore First

It Reached The South Fore At Least 5 Years Afterward

Until The Practice Stopped The South Fore Ate Those Who Died Of Kuru

Other Groups Stopped Eating Them Sooner Or Later

Over 60% Of Kuru Cases Occurred In The South Fore

Since 1986 Every Case Came From An Area Centred On The South Fore

After 1960 Cases Continued But Became Less Frequent

The Average Age At Onset Also Rose

By 1974 There Were No Kuru Deaths Under Age 20

Since 1999 Everyone Who Died Of It Was Over 50

None Of More Than 2700 Recorded Cases Was Born After 1959