A similar disease, called scrapie, was common in sheep, but had not previously been diagnosed in cows. And a nearly identical, invariably lethal disease, kuru, had ravaged the aboriginal people in Papua New Guinea throughout the twentieth century.
一种类似的被称为痒病的疾病在羊中间流行，但此前从未在牛身上发现症状。而在整个20世纪，一种几乎完全相同的致命疾病——库鲁病（kuru）在巴布亚新几内亚土著居民中间肆虐。库鲁病和痒病都是传染病。