FBI Issues Nationwide Warning On Ricin Toxin

Independent (UK) ^ | 1-11-2003 | Andrew Buncombe

[blam]

FBI issues nationwide warning on ricin toxin

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
11 January 2003

The FBI yesterday issued a nationwide alert about ricin days after the arrest in London of seven men allegedly connected with an Algerian extremist group and the discovery of a small amount of the poison in their flat.

The Bureau contacted 17,000 law-enforcement officials, and provided advice and information on how to handle ricin and warning how the deadly toxin might be used in a terror attack.

"Use of ricin toxin as a weapon would be most effective in an assassination by injection or as a food contaminant," the bulletin said. "Ricin could be used in a terrorist operation to contaminate closed ventilation systems such as heaters or air conditioners, drinking water, lakes, rivers and food supplies."

It said that ricin can be made in liquid, crystal or dry powder form and that in low doses, it has a laxative rather than lethal effect. But it warned that if inhaled or ingested, serious symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and low blood pressure are expected within eight hours. Death can come between 36 and 72 hours.

There have been a small number of cases in the US that involved the use or near-use of ricin, the bulletin said. But officials said they no information to suggest that a ricin attack was planned against any US target. The seven men held in London are still being questioned.

£ Britain's biggest chain of garden centres has stopped selling castor plant seeds from which ricin can be extracted. Plants and seeds are off the shelves at all 124 Wyevale Garden Centres. The firm said it was taking them out of circulation "in light of recent events".

[Libertarianize the GOP]

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[upchuck]

Same story, different thread^.

[eno_]

Food contamination is the only credible mass-terror threat. Even in confined spaces, it would be difficult to kill more than a handful of people - a rifle would be more effective.

[Mo1]

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[Grut]

The FBI, once more jumping up and down, waving its hands and yelling "Here I am! Here I am!"

[PokeyJoe]

It said that ricin can be made in liquid, crystal or dry powder form and that in low doses, it has a laxative rather than lethal effect. But it warned that if inhaled or ingested, serious symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and low blood pressure are expected within eight hours. Death can come between 36 and 72 hours.

Oh, so that's how all those people got sick on those cruise ships. hmmmm......

[tall_tex]

Help me out here.

Isriel is issuing gas masks to thier population, most carry and are trained to uses weapons, war has been declared on both countries....

They are preparing.

What has our government done to help us prepare, except to talk down the danger and build up the echonomy?

We get all this feel good stuff, while the local PD's are on a rampage to dis-arm us.

We have no "Homeland Defense" plan, except for FReeprs.

Can we change that?

Sadly, no we can not.

I think that I will just go take a shower just like 99.9% of our counties people. Shower's are better than sticking your head in the sand. Although the reseult is the same.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

Agro-terrorism would be far worse, and wouldn't have to kill very many people. Introduce Hoof and Mouth disease into grain stocks in this country (most of which go to feed meat and dairy animals), and they could starve us to death. Of course, much of the middle east would be transformed from sand to boiling glass by that time.

[eno_]

I always thought the response to hoof and mouth in the U.K. more closely resembled a national security response than an agriculture management response.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

"I always thought the response to hoof and mouth in the U.K. more closely resembled a national security response than an agriculture management response.

It certainly did with the Irish! They put their army on the border and did not let so much as a rat cross. Hoof and Mouth never did make it to Ireland.

[Humidston]

BINGO! I've always suspected a connection and now we have identical symptoms described in this piece.

You've read my mind, PJ.

[patriciaruth]

What has our government done to help us prepare

The administration has bought enough smallpox vaccine for everyone in the U.S. And they have been doing a lot of training of first responders, like policemen and ambulance paramedics and hospital emergency room doctors and nurses and national guard, in how to handle a terrorist attack with biological or chemical or nuclear weapons.

However, the most important thing they are doing is going after the SOB's who may try to do this sort of thing and get 'em before they get us.

[Lion's Cub]

It said that ricin can be made in liquid, crystal or dry powder form and that in low doses, it has a laxative rather than lethal effect. But it warned that if inhaled or ingested, serious symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and low blood pressure are expected within eight hours. Death can come between 36 and 72 hours.

Slightly confused ping. I guess they are saying it's effective inside ventilation and air conditioning systems in a closed building, but not useful for mass attacks out in the open...

I wonder if current water treatment facilities would already filter it out, or if they'd need special technology?

[aristeides]

People better stay away from salad bars for a while.

[mrustow]

"Use of ricin toxin as a weapon would be most effective ... as a food contaminant"

Hope my wife doesn't hear about that, God bless her!

[eno_]

Such subtlty is usually not a wife thing. Think skillet upside the head instead of anything requiring skilled preparation of a vegtable. That's how I expect to go.

[eno_]

How about focusing LEA resources on sweeping out Moslem illegal immigrants and reviewing all permanent resident and naturalized citizen Moslems for links to AQ and deporting them?

We need to deny terror networks their support in the U.S. and make sure that if they do meet a Moslem here that Moslem is loyal to this country.

[eno_]

What I meant was: I don't expect Ricin to be used in an attack requiring a sophisticated machine for making it airborn in an encslosed space. The Aum nerve gas attack showed that even with obsessive attention to the dleivery device, it's not very easy. Of course, there could be some other kind of attack on the way instead, or in addition.