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Kuru spread among people in Papua New Guinea through which practice?
ADrinking untreated river water
BRitual cannibalism between people
CEating undercooked farmed fish
DSharing needles during treatment
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Ritual cannibalism between people
1. Kuru is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of humans caused by prions.
2. It was native to humans in Papua New Guinea and spread from human to human by ritualistic cannibalism.
3. Sufferers showed loss of motor control and unusual behaviour, including uncontrolled bursts of laughter, followed by death.
4. The disease was controlled by inducing the population to abandon that ritual practice.
5. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy spread the same way in cattle, through cattle nervous tissue put into cattle feed.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 21 "Viruses", section 21.4 Other Acellular Entities: Prions and Viroids_
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