Post # 5- Historical Geography of Disease

Historical Geography of Disease

Kuru origninated in New Guinia among the Fore people.  It reached near epidemic levels in the 1950's and 60's, but has greatly decreased since government involvement.  Kuru is a TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy’s) or prion diseases. These diseases are special because they contain the misshapen prion protein that collects and builds in the brain tissue (NINDS).  It has mostly stayed among the Fore people because it is transmitted through cannibalism.  The Fore people used to practice cannibalism on their dead relatives as a way to help them move on to the afterlife.  Kuru is “moved” from body to body by the consumption of human flesh.

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Alpers. PubMedU.S. National Library of Medicine. A History of Kuru.Maryland: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2013