Kuru is a prion disease that causes rapid deterioration of mental functioning and loss of muscle coordination . This disease occurs in the Fore natives of New Guinea highlands and rituals associated with endocannibalism .
Until the early 1960s , kuru fairly common in New Guinea . Prions possibility cannibalistic rituals menghadirii obtained during a religious ceremony to bury the dead and the family involved in eating the dead tissue as a sign of respect . Kuru probably started from the consumption of prion - contaminated tissue from a person affected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease . Kuru is more common in women and children because they give brains to be eaten . Many of these rituals that have been abandoned , and kuru virtually non-existent.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms include loss of muscle coordination , and difficulty walking . Hands and feet become stiff , and muscle spasms . Involuntary movement abnormalities, such as repetitive movements , slow writhing or jerking hard on the limbs and body , can occur ( kuru means trembling ) . Emotions can change abruptly from sad to happy at all with the sudden explosive laughter . People with kuru became crazy and sometimes quiet , could not speak , and did not respond to his surroundings . Most people die about 3 to 24 months after symptoms appear , usually as a cause of pneumonia or infection that causes bedsores ( pressure sores ) .
