A form of mercury poisoning from eating polluted fish, found first in Japan.
Form of mercury poisoning that occurred among people eating fish from mercury-contaminated waters of Minamata Bay, off Japan, in the 1950s. It is characterized by severe neurological degeneration with symptoms of paresthesia of mouth and limbs, tunnel vision, difficulties with concentration and muscular coordination, weak¬ ness, and emotional instability, progressing with continued exposure resulting in damage to the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, coma, and in some cases death.
Neurological disorder due to methyl mercury intoxication resulting from eating fish contaminated with mercury waste in the water; symptoms include peripheral sensory loss, dysarthria, tremors, ataxia, and hearing and vision loss.
A degenerative neurological disease due to ingestion of alkyl mercury, an organic mercury used industrially. Peripheral nerve injury, ataxia, and dysarthria are common consequences.
The term used to describe a grave manifestation of mercury poisoning that occurred during the mid-1950s among individuals who had consumed contaminated fish sourced from Minamata Bay, Japan. Numerous individuals afflicted by this incident experienced profound nerve impairments, leading to fatalities in some cases.