Abstract
In November 1966, I received, to my surprise, formalin-fixed pieces of brain tissue from a young kuru patient (Tabaso, female, 12 years) from Dr Michael Alpers at the NIH with the request for electron microscopy (EM). At that time, I was engaged in EM studies of infectious diseases of the central
Highlights
The collaboration of the local communities in 22 linguistic groups has allowed us to collect over 4000 blood samples, other specimens and interviews
Kuru is no longer a priority for the people affected: their health concerns are focused on diseases that are no longer common in wealthy countries and on the emerging AIDS epidemic
The team’s work is part of the ongoing research started by Vincent Zigas and Carleton Gajdusek in 1957 and there are many others, including some of those attending the meeting, who were the pioneers of kuru research
Summary
The collaboration of the local communities in 22 linguistic groups has allowed us to collect over 4000 blood samples, other specimens and interviews. In November 1966, I received, to my surprise, formalinfixed pieces of brain tissue from a young kuru patient (Tabaso, female, 12 years) from Dr Michael Alpers at the NIH with the request for electron microscopy (EM). I was delighted by the new challenge since my interest in kuru went back already to 1960.
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