WHAT IS KURU DISEASE?

THE FATAL SHAKING SICKNESS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

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OKAY BACK FROM THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS ⛰️

Kuru Was A Fatal Brain Disease In Papua New Guinea

Researchers Class It As One Of The Prion Diseases

Its Signs Included Shaking And A Loss Of Coordination

Kuru Was Found Only In One Remote Area Of The Country

That Area Lies In The Southern Part Of The Eastern Highlands

The Disease Was Confined To The Fore And Nine Nearby Language Groups

Those Nine Groups Intermarried With The Fore

The Name Kuru Comes From The Fore Language

It Means To Tremble From Fever Or Cold

Villagers In Almost All Fore Hamlets First Said It Was Long Present

They Soon Clarified That It Had Worsened In Recent Years

When Their Oldest People Were Young There Was No Kuru At All

Fore Reports Suggest It First Appeared In One Village Around 1900

Australian Patrol Officers Were The First Europeans To Witness It

They Mentioned The Disease In Their Official Reports

In 1951 Arthur Carey Drew Attention To What Seemed A New Disease

The Fore Said It Was Mainly Killing Women

Carey Described The Symptoms And Called For A Medical Diagnosis

Gajdusek And Zigas Described It In Two Publications In 1957

Kuru Had Become An Epidemic Among The Fore And Surrounding Groups

It Peaked In The Late 1950s

Kuru Follows A Clear Course With An Early Phase And Three Stages

Its Features Do Not Appear To Have Changed Across The Epidemic

The Early Phase Brings Headache And Aching Limbs And Joint Pains

Those Symptoms Can Last For Several Months

In The First Stage Patients Can Still Walk

Many Diagnosed Themselves When Unsteadiness First Began

A Coarse Tremor Is Usually Present And Movement Makes It Worse

Patients Typically Hold Their Hands Together To Suppress It

As Balance Worsens The Patient Needs A Stick

This First Stage Lasts About Eight Months On Average

The Second Stage Begins When Patients Cannot Walk Without Support

Walking With Support Brings Reeling Instability

Muscle Power Is Reduced But There Is No Paralysis

Patients Typically Remain In This Stage For Two To Three Months

Mood Can Swing And Some Patients Laugh Inappropriately

That Laughter Led To The Nickname Laughing Death

The Third Stage Begins When Patients Cannot Sit Unsupported

In This Stage The Patient Is Bedridden

Swallowing Becomes Progressively Harder

Patients Lose Control Of Bladder And Bowel

This Final Stage Typically Lasts One To Two Months

Death Follows Respiratory Failure And Pneumonia Or Blood Infection

Kuru Was Always Fatal

In Affected Villages It Was The Commonest Cause Of Death Among Women

Overall The Illness Lasted An Average Of 12 Months

Durations Ranged From 3 Months To 2 Years

A Few Atypical Cases Could Last Much Longer

The Course Tended To Be Shorter In Children

Illness Also Lasted Longer In Older Patients

Early On Adult Women Made Up Over 70% Of Cases

Adolescents And Children Were Also Principally Affected

Among Them Boys And Girls Were About Equal In Number

At First No Cases Were Found In Adult Men

Adult Men Were 2% Of Patients By The Fourth Year Of Study

That Share Gradually Increased With Time

One Study Puts Onset Ages From 4 To Over 70 Years

A Clinical Study Gives A Range Of 5 To Over 60 Years

Kuru Ran In Families

Yet Wives Got It As Often As Sisters And Daughters

Over 1000 People Died Of Kuru From 1957 To 1961

Kuru Deaths Declined To 2 In The Period From 2002 To 2006

Researchers Recorded More Than 2700 Cases Of Kuru In All