Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Concept information

Preferred term

kuru

Type

  • Topic

Definition

  • Information A prion disease found exclusively among the Fore linguistic group natives of the highlands of New Guinea. It is marked by the subacute onset of tremor and ataxia followed by motor weakness and incontinence. The condition is associated with ritual cannibalism, and has become rare since this practice has been discontinued. Pathologic features include a noninflammatory loss of neurons that is most prominent in the cerebellum, glial proliferation, and amyloid plaques.

Broader concept

Synonyms

  • kuru encephalopathy

In other languages

URI

https://lod.nal.usda.gov/nalt/48606

Download this concept:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD Created 1/19/06, last modified 11/30/12