A fatal disease caused by prions that was found among the south foré people of the eastern new guinea highlands. The symptoms include palsy, contracted face muscles, and the loss of motor control resulting in the inability to walk and eventually even eat. Kuru victims become progressively emaciated. Death almost always occurs within 6-12 months of the onset of symptoms. This disease was spread among the south foré as a result of cannibalism. Kuru is a variant of kreutzfeld-jacob disease in humans as well as scrapies and mad cow disease in livestock and some wild animals.