![]() While the number of cases of kuru was decreasing, those in medical research were able to properly investigate kuru, which led to the modern proposition of prions being the cause. Cannibalism, however, was a reasonable enough explanation for kuru that the Australian administration banned the practice of feasting on the dead, and cannibalism was nearly eliminated by 1960. ![]() However, action was not considered a priority because the link to cannibalism was thought to be either too unusual, or that there was insufficient evidence linking kuru to cannibalism. It was not until 1957 that cannibalism was investigated by Gajdusek and shown with data to be the cause. Prior to the late 1950s, patrol officers thought that kuru was psychosomatic and was caused by the trauma of Western colonization and perpetuated by beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft. ![]() Attempting to cure this, they would feed victims pork and casuarinas bark. This disease, the Fore people believed, was caused by ghosts because of the shaking and strange behaviour that comes with kuru. Another theory was that cassowary disease, also known as negi-negi, was the cause. The Fore people also thought that the magic causing kuru was contagious. Initially, the Fore people believed the causes of kuru to be sorcery or witchcraft, while patrol officers believed that kuru might be psychosomatic, or caused by mental factors.
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