Fact Check: Is Ellen DeGeneres going blind due to rare disease kuru?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A social media post has gone viral on the internet claiming Ellen DeGeneres is going blind after being diagnosed with kuru – the disease linked to cannibalism.

The X post also stated that the retired comedian has disappeared after the release of the Epstein files and “is displaying erratic behavior”.

Let us analyze and fact-check the claim.

Claim:  Ellen DeGeneres is going blind due to fatal brain disease kuru

The claim has been made by the host of The People's Voice, TPV Sean, on X. He also attached a link to an article published by The People’s Voice, the title of which read, “Ellen DeGeneres ‘Going Blind’ in Horrific Kuru Nightmare — Epstein Files Reveal She Ate ‘Dozens of Kids’.”

The article further said that DeGeneres has disappeared from public view after the release of the Epstein files. It also asserted that she’s “displaying erratic behavior” and accused her of consuming child flesh while citing the controversial documents released by the Department of Justice.

The People’s Voice piece even called the TV host “Hollywood’s most prolific cannibal” and claimed that the investigators have determined that her victims' numbers could be “low three figures”.

The article even cited an apparent investigator saying, “She’s terrified. New Mexico authorities are tearing Zorro Ranch apart right now, literally digging up the grounds for remains.”

“She’s equally scared of what UK police are about to drop from their cold-case review of three missing children in the Cotswolds, where she lived in a manor house last year. She thought she was untouchable,” they added.

The report also quoted an unnamed medical expert from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, saying about DeGeneres that she “appears to be suffering the symptoms of late-stage prion disease now.”

“The blindness is irreversible. Death usually follows within six to nine months,” the expert apparently claimed.

What is Kuru disease?

As per MedlinePlus, an infectious protein (prion) found in contaminated human brain tissue is responsible for Kuru. It says, "Kuru is found among people from New Guinea who practiced a form of cannibalism in which they ate the brains of dead people as part of a funeral ritual."

Kuru leads to a change in the brain and nervous system, with symptoms showing up as coordination problems that become severe, headache, tremors, and muscle jerks. MedlinePlus also states that there's no treatment for the disease and "death usually occurs within 1 year after the first sign of symptoms."

Fact Check: False, no medical or official records to support the claim

The claim is false as there’s no credible evidence or confirmed report justifying the claim. No official medical report has been published saying DeGeneres has kuru or any such disease.

Though DeGeneres' name has reportedly been in the data, communications, and investigative materials alongside over 300 famous names, it does not imply any wrongdoing.