Kuru: unravelling the mystery disease that left entire Papua New Guinean villages without women

New genetic analysis sheds light on the epidemic caused by the practice of mortuary feasting in the Eastern Highlands of PNG mid last centuryIn the middle of the 20th century the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea was gripped by a mysterious disease which left entire villages without adult women.The Fore people at the centre of the outbreak called it kuru – the word for shivering – as people lost control of their limbs and bodily functions before a tremor set in preceding