What is the major causative agent of Minamata disease?

Minamata disease is a methylmercury poisoning with neurological symptoms and caused by the daily consump- tion of large quantities of fish and shellfish that were heavily contaminated with the toxic chemical generated in chemical factories and then discharged into the sea.

Is Minamata disease an infectious disease?

The severe neurological illness (called, afterwards, Minamata Disease) that was actually discovered in 1953 in the Minamata area was officially recognized in May 1956. The disease was considered to be strange and initially was thought to be an infectious disease….Minamata Bay.

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What are the causes of Minamata and Blackfoot disease?

Causes of Minamata Disease

  • The most common source is through contaminated seafood, as was the case for people residing in Minamata.
  • There were many cases of mercury poisoning found in New Mexico, USA, which resulted from the consumption of livestock that was fed mercury-tainted grain.

What is Minamata disease Class 9?

Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata City, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury into the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968.

What does Minamata disease do?

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.

What disease causes mercury poisoning?

High-level exposure to methylmercury is known as Minamata disease. Methylmercury exposure in children may result in acrodynia (pink disease) in which the skin becomes pink and peels. Long-term complications may include kidney problems and decreased intelligence.

Where is Minamata?

Japan
Minamata, city, Kumamoto ken (prefecture), southeastern Kyushu, Japan. It is situated near the southern end of Yatsushiro Bay.

What causes pinks disease?

Abstract. Pink disease (infantile acrodynia) was especially prevalent in the first half of the 20th century. Primarily attributed to exposure to mercury (Hg) commonly found in teething powders, the condition was developed by approximately 1 in 500 exposed children.

What causes high levels of mercury in the body?

Elevated mercury in blood usually indicates exposure to organic mercury (such as from eating fish containing methylmercury) or recent exposure to a high level of elemental mercury vapor. For most people, an elevated blood mercury level is associated with eating fish and other seafood containing organic mercury.

Where was Minamata disease first identified?

On May 1, 1956, a doctor in Japan reported an “epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system,” marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.

When was Minamata disease first identified?

Minamata Disease, which is a typical example of the pollution-related health damage in Japan, was first discovered in 1956, around Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture, and in 1965, in the Agano River basin in Niigata Prefecture.