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Ricin powder found in senate building

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Posted on Tue, Feb. 03, 2004

Powder found in U.S. Senate building tests positive for ricin
BY SUMANA CHATTERJEE
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - A suspicious white powder found in a U.S. Senate office building on Monday has tested positive for the lethal poison ricin, said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer. At least 16 people were possibly exposed to the powder and underwent decontamination procedures at the Capitol.

Ricin is an extremely poisonous byproduct of processing castor beans, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Its deliberate use would indicate terrorist motivations, according to bioterrorism experts. There is no antidote for ricin. It's not contagious but is easily spread as a powder, mist or a pellet that can be diluted in water.

U.S. Capitol Police tested for bioterrorism agents after a postal worker alerted officials that a powdery substance was found among packages and envelopes. Two of the three tests confirmed that the powder was ricin. Additional tests are being conducted at military facilities in Fort Detrick, Md.

Documents found in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in the fall 2001 suggested that terrorists were researching ricin use. Ricin's stable properties allow the poison to be easily handled, unlike anthrax, which requires elaborate precautions to prevent exposure.

Capitol Police evacuated the fourth floor of the Senate Office building and shut down its air circulation units after the hazardous team was alerted, Gainer said.

"Nobody has been hurt and everybody is fine," said Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, Tenn., who is also a surgeon. The symptoms of exposure include shortness of breath, chest tightening and coughing.

During the testing, senators and their staffs continued to consider legislation in the Senate Finance Committee room, also located in that building. The decision not to evacuate them is likely to be scrutinized in the coming days.

Should final test results confirm that the powder is ricin, it would be the third bioterrorism attack on Congress. In 2001, terrorists targeted two U.S. senators with deadly anthrax, a deadly biological agent. The anthrax-laden letters, addressed to Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., shut down a Senate building for months, forced thousands of congressional aides and postal employees onto medication and killed at least two postal workers who likely handled the envelopes.

It is unclear how the powder came into the building. Ricin cannot be destroyed by the irradiation processes used by the Capitol Police and U.S. Postal Service to combat bacteria, viruses and other bioterrorism agents, sources familiar with security procedures said.

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For more information on ricin, visit the Center for Disease Control's Web site: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp.)

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© 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services




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