- kuruA chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.
- Kuru diseaseA rare, fatal prion disease of the Fore people of Papua New Guinea, causing progressive neurological decline and historically transmitted through mortuary endocannibalism.