I’ve read about the causes of Kuru and would not be surprised at all.
donozark wrote: “I’ve read about the causes of Kuru and would not be surprised at all.”
Kuru originated among the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via funerary cannibalism. Deceased family members were traditionally cooked and eaten, which was thought to help free the spirit of the dead. Women and children usually consumed the brain, the organ in which infectious prions were most concentrated, thus allowing for transmission of kuru.
The epidemic likely started when a villager developed sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) and died. When the women ate the brain, they caught the disease, and then the people that ate them caught it, and on it went.
CJD is a universally fatal brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, and visual disturbances. Later dementia, involuntary movements, blindness, weakness, and coma occur.