kuru

American  

[koor-oo] / ˈkʊər u /

noun

Pathology.

1. a fatal degenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized by progressive lack of coordination and dementia, known only among certain Melanesian peoples, especially the Fore of New Guinea, and caused by a slow virus: now virtually extinct.

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kuru British  

/ ˈkʊruː /

noun

1. a degenerative disease of the nervous system, restricted to certain tribes in New Guinea, marked by loss of muscular control and thought to be caused by a slow virus

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kuru Scientific  

/ kr′o̅o̅ /

1. A rare, progressive, degenerative neurological disease found in certain peoples of New Guinea and associated with cannibalism. It is thought to be caused by a prion and results in a fatal encephalopathy.

2. See Note at prion

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Etymology

Origin of kuru

First recorded in 1955–60; < a dialect of Fore, a language of the Eastern Highlands District

Example Sentences

Cole and his team landed on an unfurling fern coil with many points of contact for the design of Payakan’s kuru.

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2022

One of the most famous examples is the spread of a rare and fatal brain disease called kuru that ravaged the Fore people of New Guinea in the 1950s.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 19, 2022

Individuals with kuru and BSE show symptoms of loss of motor control and unusual behaviors, such as uncontrolled bursts of laughter with kuru, followed by death.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The discovery of this process came about partly because of a disease called kuru that was found among the Fore people in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2022

Kuru was on its way to exterminating New Guinea’s Foré tribe of 20,000 people, until the establishment of Australian government control around 1959 ended cannibalism and thereby the transmission of kuru.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond