Severe neurological disease caused by mercury poisoning
Medical condition
Minamata disease
The hand of Tomoko Kamimura, who had Minamata disease
Specialty
Toxicology, neurology, psychiatry
Symptoms
Ataxia, numbness and muscle weakness
Complications
Loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech; in extreme cases: insanity, paralysis, coma; can also affect fetuses; see Mercury poisoning for more details
Usual onset
Soon after consuming affected seafood
Duration
Chronic
Causes
Severe mercury poisoning
Risk factors
Affected those who consumed fish and shellfish from Minamata Bay
Diagnostic method
See mercury poisoning
Differential diagnosis
See mercury poisoning
Prevention
Proper handling of industrial waste
Treatment
See mercury poisoning
Medication
See mercury poisoning
Prognosis
35% case fatality rate; for more details see mercury poisoning
Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease affects fetuses in the womb, causing microcephaly, extensive cerebral damage, and symptoms similar to those seen in cerebral palsy.
Minamata disease was first discovered in the city of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, in 1956, hence its name. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from a chemical factory owned by the Chisso Corporation, which continued from 1932 to 1968. It has also been suggested that some of the mercury sulfate in the wastewater was also metabolized to methylmercury by bacteria in the sediment.[1] This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated and biomagnified in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which, when eaten by the local population, resulted in mercury poisoning. The poisoning and resulting deaths of both humans and animals continued for 36 years, while Chisso and the Kumamoto prefectural government did little to prevent the epidemic. The animal effects were severe enough in cats that they came to be named as having "dancing cat fever".[2]
As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognized as having Minamata disease[3] and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso.[4] By 2004, Chisso had paid $86 million in compensation, and in the same year was ordered to clean up its contamination.[5] On March 29, 2010, a settlement was reached to compensate as-yet uncertified victims.[6]
A second outbreak of Minamata disease occurred in Niigata Prefecture in 1965. The original Minamata disease and Niigata Minamata disease are considered two of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.
^Hamdy MK, Noyes OR (1975). "Formation of Methyl Mercury by Bacteria". Appl. Microbiol. 30 (3): 424–432. doi:10.1128/AEM.30.3.424-432.1975. PMC 187198. PMID 1180551. and references therein.
^Withrow SJ, Vail DM (2007). Withrow and MacEwen's Small Animal Clinical Oncology (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. pp. 73–4. ISBN 978-0-721-60558-6.
^Official government figure as of March 2001. See "Minamata Disease: The History and Measures, ch2"
^See "Minamata Disease Archives" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Frequently asked questions, Question 6
^Jane Hightower (2008). Diagnosis Mercury: Money, Politics and Poison, Island Press, p. 77.
^"Agreement reached to settle Minamata suit", Asahi Shimbun news, 31 March 2010, retrieved 1 April 2010
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prominent way to refer to the events, Minamatadisease and Niigata Minamatadisease were the same pollution disease caused by the same poison, just in different...
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supply in Minamata, Japan that led to thousands of deaths and victims of disease. Between 1932 and 1968, Chisso's chemical factory in Minamata released...
Minamatadisease: "MinamataDisease: The History and Measures", The Ministry of the Environment, (2002), retrieved 17 January 2007 "MinamataDisease Archives"...
to methylmercury is known as Minamatadisease. Methylmercury exposure in children may result in acrodynia (pink disease) in which the skin becomes pink...
products). The company is known for causing the second outbreak of Minamatadisease (a type of severe mercury poisoning) in Kanose, currently part of Aga-machi...
intimate photograph with Smith to illustrate the terrible effects of Minamatadisease (a type of mercury poisoning) on the body and mind of her daughter...
extent poisoned by mercury. Mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan, is now known as Minamatadisease. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists...
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the disease, had already reached local epidemic proportions by that time. A 1957 Kumamota Medical Journal called the condition Minamatadisease. A 2017...
regimen to be successful. Methylmercury poisoning is also known as Minamatadisease. As early as 1865, two workers in the laboratory of Edward Frankland...
Minamatadisease compensation agreements of 1959 were agreed between the polluting Chisso company and representative groups of fishermen and Minamata...
his hair, through his fingernails and eyes". Danbury Hatters' case Minamatadisease From Greek ἐρεθισμός erethismos "irritation". ἐρεθισμός. Liddell, Henry...
muscle movements) and vision loss, symptoms similar to those seen when Minamatadisease affected Japan. The recorded death toll was 459 people, but figures...
abilities, attention, and fine motor skills. The case of Minamatadisease that occurred in Minamata Bay, Japan in the 1950s demonstrated the frightening effects...
publicizing writings about Minamatadisease, which was extremely controversial at the time. Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow: Our MinamataDisease (1969) translated...
tragedy occurred also in Minamata, Japan, following release of methylmercury into Minamata Bay and its tributaries (see Minamatadisease). In the Ontario case...
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