Posted on 01/07/2003 1:42:13 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Well that explains castor oil.
Anyone who's ever had it knows what I'm talking about.
If someone needs to sue it is him.
Ricin.
Ricin is a glycoprotein toxin (66,000 daltons) from the seed of the castor plant. It blocks protein synthesis by altering the rRNA, thus killing the cell. Ricin's significance as a potential biological warfare agent relates to its availability world wide, its ease of production, and extreme pulmonary toxicity when inhaled.
Overall, the clinical picture seen depends on the route of exposure.
All reported serious or fatal cases of castor bean ingestion have taken approximately the same course: rapid onset of nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and severe diarrhea with vascular collapse; death has occurred on the third day or later.
Following inhalation, one might expect nonspecific symptoms of weakness, fever, cough, and hypothermia followed by hypotension and cardiovascular collapse. The exact cause of death is unknown and probably varies with route of intoxication. High doses by inhalation appear to produce severe enough pulmonary damage to cause death.
[Hypotension and cardiovascular collapse: Tachycardia, arrhythmias, ECG may show ischaemic changes. Cardiac arrest.]
In oral intoxication, fever, gastrointestinal involvement, and vascular collapse are prominent, the latter differentiating it from infection with enteric pathogens. With regard to inhalation exposure, nonspecific findings of weakness, fever, vomiting, cough, hypothermia, and hypotension in large numbers of patients might suggest several respiratory pathogens.
Therapy is supportive and should include maintenance of intravascular volume. Standard management for poison ingestion should be employed if intoxication is by the oral route. There is presently no antitoxin available for treatment.
There is currently no prophylaxis approved for human use. Active immunization and passive antibody prophylaxis are under study, as both are effective in protecting animals from death following exposure by intravenous or respiratory routes.
If "Amerithrax" is actually a legitimate investigation and Hatfill is, indeed, an innocent victim.
It would not surprise me, however, if Hatfill had been "recruited" for the role and is playing a part.
The whole "Amerithrax" investigation smells like a front, designed to temporarily distract the media (and the public) from the real source of the anthrax: terrorists...and their state sponsor, Iraq.
Hatfill's background is just gray enough to suggest that he may have had some ties with the intelligence community in the past. And, thus, might again be in their employ for this one last virtuoso performance.
By the time the Iraq Affair is over, we should be able to figure out what was probably the truth.
However the FBI came up with nothing on the guy ....and up to now the official statement is that he is a 'person of interest.'
Yet they have basically ruined the guy's life! Whether it be through a FBI leak to the media about where the guy lives (just as the Feds move in to search his house), or whether it be through hounding the fellow so much his girlfriend packs away, or whether it is by associating him with so much negative stuff he gets fired. That is wrong.
Now if he was the perp then they can fry him for all i care .......however malignign him (and then apoligizing for the leaks as if words are going to put his life back together) is just plain wrong and very unprofessional on the part of the FBI.
As for the Anthrax it could be a local job or an Iraqi deal .....however the Anthrax strain is American. That does not mean the perp is not Iraqi because during the 80s we gave the Ames strain of Anthrax to the Iraqis (then they were our friends fighting against the Iranians during the Iraq-Iran war .....and hence we wanted to build up their war capabilities). However on the same hand it could be an American that did the Anthrax deal ......could be. For now it could be anyone anyplace anywhere! The onyl fact we know is the strain of Anthrax was the Ames strain, and that is American.
As for Hatfil they should either prosecute the guy, or else leave his lfie alone.
I believe we also know that the anthrax spores were processed in an extremely advanced fashion that reeks of state sponsorship.
FBI Theory On Anthrax Is Doubted
And, once there, we can hazard some intelligent guesses...
By the way, I'm not aware that we gave the Ames strain to Iraq as a means of "building up their war capabilities". The Ames strain anthrax bacilli were shared with their agricultural/vet med school in the early eighties as a matter of public health policy -- just as it was with the ag/vet med schools in many other countries.
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