Kuru

Kuru is a rare and fatal brain disease caused by prions, which are misfolded proteins that trigger abnormal changes in healthy brain proteins. It primarily affected the Fore people of Papua New Guinea in the mid-20th century due to funeral customs that involved consuming the brains of deceased relatives. Symptoms include tremors, loss of coordination, and severe mental deterioration. Kuru is part of a larger group of prion diseases, which also includes more well-known conditions like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and mad cow disease. There is no cure, and affected individuals typically die within months to years after symptoms appear.