Posted on 02/29/2008 3:14:39 AM PST by maquiladora
LAS VEGAS (AP) Preliminary tests indicate that a package found at a motel contained the toxin ricin, and seven people have been taken to hospitals, authorities said.
Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, Officer Ramone Denby said.
Two preliminary tests indicate it contained ricin, he said. Results from further tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected Friday, police said.
Homeland Security officials joined local police in the investigation. Officials from the FBI, Las Vegas Health District, a hazardous materials team and the National Guard were also at the scene.
Officers cordoned off the area and isolated the room where the substance was found.
Three motel employees and another person were quarantined and decontaminated at the site, then taken to hospitals for further testing, Denby said. All appeared to be in good condition, he said. Three police officers who had been exposed were also taken to hospitals.
It takes between six and eight hours for someone exposed to ricin to show signs of contamination, Denby said.
A woman who answered the phone at the motel declined comment.
Ricin is made from the waste left over from processing castor beans, and can be extremely lethal. As little as 500 micrograms, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human, according to the CDC.
CSI nerd? lol
I can’t stand television any more. I watch the news, and I watch things like “Discovery Channel” or “Science Channel”. I go to see movies on occasion, but television? CSI? Not me.
I don’t understand it either. Murder Plot? Why go to the extreme of using Ricin to murder, as they seem to be assuming, some one person (also noting the media use of the word ‘poison’, as would seemingly relate to the murder of an individual)? Murder maybe, but it seems to me the purposeful use of Ricin would be as a ‘weapon’ for MASS murder.
Side Note: That bug you guys are talking about, went around here in Colorado. I caught it on 31 December 2006. I am over most of it now, but still have some crap in my lungs. I didnt go to the doctor, just fought it off (even stayed home a few days to avoid giving it to others).
Several people in my family DID go to the doctor and the hospital in one case. ALL of them were told “it is an ‘upper respiratory infection’ and given inhalers”. None got antibiotics though, which is indicative of a viral infection (what the flu and colds usually are). But NO ONE would call it “the flu”.
In fact, when I finally went to the doc for ear problems a couple weeks back, he even said “We won’t call that the flu, lets just call it an ‘upper respiratory infection’ and be done with it... and you’re better now, right?”
Strange. And my doctor is pretty good about ‘sharing’ information with me too... I found that creepy.
You should probably get yourselves checked out. Thanks to the US' open door policy regarding foreign students (and thanks to the university where I work accepting anyone with a pulse), I have just tested positive for exposure to TB and am looking at nine months of treatment with a very nasty antibiotic. And that's just for exposure, not an active case of illness. So get yourselves checked out (in your case it's obviously not TB, as that takes 12 weeks to incubate).
And I've stayed at that Extended Stay America hotel, when an airline stranded me in Vegas and then dumped me in that place overnight. It's a kind of creepy hotel to begin with.
I heard on Fox that one person is in "grave" condition.
LV is a likely target for Jihadis.
You are welcome.
Well...it has certainly made alot of folks sick and one gravely ill according to Fox report just now. Still saying a ‘murder plot’....
Worth repeating. 150,000 people at one place at one time, even a huge outdoor facility like a mile-and-a-half speedway, is a very tempting target.
}:-)4
With the enemy inside the gates one would think Americans’ lives would be the concern of our congresspeople, but our congresspeople continue to tell us...nothing to worry about, nothing to be concerned about by their actions...dang it...I want Victory for our Nation, not slow death as the liberals and rinos are offering....but I am but one Citizen.....being only one Citizen, but I am disturbed our liberals and rinos are aiding our enemies....it is easy to understand if one listens to these liberals and rinos....there is no desire for Victory by the liberals and rinos.....instead their game being played on the Citizens is working quite well....I can see why nothing is being done.
It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!
Fox News conference at the moment.
One of the hospitalized was an occupant of the room.
Watching it now..Thanks for the ping! FEB. 14!!???
What have I missed?
WTH? What did I miss about FEBRUARY 14TH?
Whoa... the guy that originally called for help called for help on 14 Feb!
This has been going on for a few days now!
Something ain’t jivin..folks!!
You just don’t pay much attention do you?
This woman is FOC....Claims they don’t know the answers to the most obvious questions YET!!
She’s absolutely only letting on what she wants, NOT what she knows....maybe CYA mode?
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