Kuru in contexts

Abstract

It has been a widely accepted belief in scientific and public discourse at the end of the twentieth century that cannibalism was the principal means of transmission of the disease call 'Kuru'.The study argues that other explanations might have been excluded from consideration, in particular, iatrogenic transmission.Circumstantial evidence in support of this proposition is examined.The work begins with an examination of the relationship between a number of diseases including, X disease, poliomyelitis, louping ill, scrapie and kuru through the first half of the twentieth century. Major themes of the work revolve around the boundary between research on animal and human disease, the complexities of research in this area, and the different messages that exist simultaneously in three domains: scientific research and publications, government and institutional archives, and the public domain. The thesis argues that the circumstantial evidence presented needs to be considered seriously and that further research in the area is required before we can come to a reliable understanding of the factors involved in the transmission of kuru

Date of Award	2001
Original language	English