kuru

ku·ru

 (ko͝or′o͞o)

n.

A fatal degenerative disease of the brain caused by a prion, formerly found among certain peoples of New Guinea and transmitted by the consumption of human flesh during mortuary rites.

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[Fore (language of eastern Papua New Guinea).]

kuru

(ˈkʊruː)

n

(Pathology) 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

[C20: from a native name]

ku•ru

(ˈkʊər u)

n.

a fatal disease of the nervous system, resembling scrapie in sheep, reported among highland New Guinea peoples who ritually eat the brains of their dead kin.

[1955–60; < Fore, a language of the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New GuineaPapuan]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

kuru - a progressive disease of the central nervous system marked by increasing lack of coordination and advancing to paralysis and death within a year of the appearance of symptoms; thought to have been transmitted by cannibalistic consumption of diseased brain tissue since the disease virtually disappeared when cannibalism was abandoned nervous disorder, neurological disease, neurological disorder - a disorder of the nervous system