55th anniv. of Minamata disease recognition marked

MINAMATA, Japan - A man (C) suffering from Minamata disease offers flowers during a ceremony commemorating the 55th anniversary of the disease's official recognition in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, on May 1, 2011. The neurological illness, caused by mercury-tainted water dumped into the sea by a Chisso Corp. chemical plant, was officially recognized on May 1, 1956, when the local health center received a report about the emergence of an unknown disease from a doctor.