Early images of kuru and the people of Okapa

These photographs were mostly taken during the early days of my time in Okapa and our research on kuru, from March 1957. They are organized in sections, which show aspects of our research work, kuru patients, the care taken of patients by their families, kuru and other sorcery, and social aspects of the Fore people, including their housing, dress and ritual. Figure 1. Dr Carleton Gajdusek (left) and Dr Vincent Zigas study a child patient with kuru at Okapa in 1957. Figure 2. Dr Zigas (at back) watching children drawing for the first time in their lives, using coloured pencils and a flat planar surface to support the paper, brought by us. Agakamatasa village, South Fore, 1957. Figure 5. Patrol carrying metal 'patrol boxes' filled with patrol gear over difficult terrain, in 1960.