| 释义 |
Minamata disease Path.|mɪnəˈmɑːtə|
[Named after Minamata, the name of a town in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, where it was first recognized.]
A disease, caused by ingestion of alkyl mercury compounds, which is characterized by impairment of cerebral functions such as speech, sight, and muscular coordination and which is usually permanent and sometimes fatal.
1957Acta Path. Jap. VII. 605 The so-called Minamata-disease may be recognized as a toxic encephalopathia. The toxic substances contained in fish and shell-fish have not been yet found. 1971Sci. Amer. May 15 The Minamata disease, as it came to be called, produced progressive weakening of the muscles, loss of vision, impairment of other cerebral functions, eventual paralysis and in some cases coma and death. 1973Biol. Conservation V. 143/2 Minamata disease first appeared in cats, which died from eating fish scraps from the village kitchens. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Sept. 1042 (caption) Demonstrators for the victims of ‘Minamata Disease’, a defect of the central nervous system caused by eating fish poisoned by mercury in industrial waste. |