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Deadly
Poison Discovered in Senate Office |
Posted:
02.04.04
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In an incident reminiscent of the deadly anthrax scare that killed
five people in the fall of 2001, police at a Senate office building
in Washington, D.C., Monday discovered traces of a poisonous substance
called ricin.
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The powder was found on a mail machine in the office of Republican
U.S. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.
"Somebody in all likelihood manufactured this with intent
to harm," Frist said Tuesday. "This is a criminal investigation
and will be investigated as such."
 Three
Senate office buildings - the Hart, Dirksen and Russell - were
closed Tuesday, and Capital police advised all lawmakers and staffers
on Capitol Hill not to open any mail. Several members of Frist's
staff were put through decontamination procedures (basically thorough
showers), but health officials said the poison did not seem to
have done any harm.
"As each minute ticks by, we are less and less concerned
about the health effects," Dr. Julie Gerberding, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention director, said. If the ricin
were pure, she said, "we would expect very early onset. The
fact that we haven't seen that is reassuring."
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What is ricin? |
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Ricin is a chemical produced by the castor plant, a plant grown
around the world. When a castor bean is mashed and processed,
the water extracted can contain the molecule ricin which, when
found in humans or animals, can cripple them by killing off cells.
"When enough cells die, it can cause damage and eventually
enough damage could kill an infected person or an exposed person,"
said Julie Fischer, a researcher at the Henry L. Stimson Center,
a nonprofit national and international security research center
in Washington, D.C.
According to Fischer, ricin is not as dangerous as anthrax. Anthrax
is a live spore of bacteria that can infect someone who simply
touches it. Ricin is a toxin that has to be inhaled or eaten.
It also takes a larger amount of ricin than anthrax to kill someone.
 "Not
that there's a good thing about finding ricin in your office and
it's clearly a threat that has to be taken seriously but it is
a much less dangerous toxin," Fischer said.
Fischer said symptoms generally occur within four to 24 hours
of exposure. To date, no antidote, or vaccine, exists for ricin.
Treatment includes trying to flush the body of the toxin as quickly
as possible.
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An ongoing
investigation |
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As of Wednesday, hazardous materials inspectors from the FBI
and from the Capital police were searching for evidence of more
ricin and examining incoming mail. The FBI will perform forensic
analyses on all suspicious mail, checking it at their lab in Quantico,
Va., for evidence such as fingerprints, hairs and fibers.
 Also
Tuesday, authorities revealed that a ricin-tainted envelope was
intercepted in November at a facility that processes mail for
the White House. Another was found at a postal facility in South
Carolina in October. Both envelopes contained letters signed by
"Fallen Angel" and included statements complaining about
recent regulations that require truck drivers to rest before lengthy
journeys.
If caught, the person who sent the ricin to Frist's office could
face charges of possession, transfer, production and transport
of a weapon of mass destruction.
--
Kristina Nwazota, Online NewsHour
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