Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery
2010•52m•8.0•Released
Documentary
Australian scientist Michael Alpers dedicated over 50 years to researching Kuru, an obscure and incurable brain disease unique to the Fore people of New Guinea. Kuru was once thought to be a psychosomatic illness, an infection, a genetic disorder, even a sorcerer's curse, but Alpers' findings pointed to cannibalism as the culprit. Yet a recent discovery has proven to be even more disturbing: the malady is linked to mad cow disease and its human equivalent, variant CJD. With a decades-long incubation period, could a larger outbreak be on its way?
Director
Rob Bygott
Writer
Rob Bygott
Cast
Judy Davis
Self - Narrator (voice)
Michael Alpers
Self
Russ Harris
Self
Pako Ombeya
Self
Production
Producer
Peter Du Cane
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