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Ricin Cited As Powerful Poison

The Associated Press

February 3, 2004

Ricin (pronounced RICE-in), which Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said was found in his Capitol Hill office, is one of the most powerful naturally occurring poisons. It has no known vaccine or antidote.

It kills cells by preventing them from making proteins. It has some potential medical uses, such as killing cancer cells, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ORIGIN:

Unlike anthrax, a living bacteria, ricin is a chemical extracted from bean-like seeds of the castor plant, Ricinus communis. One million tons of the beans are processed globally each year to make castor oil, which is used as a laxative and in automotive brake fluid. Ricin is a byproduct.

SYMPTOMS:

Ingesting ricin causes fever, stomach ache, diarrhea, vomiting and eventually death. Inhalation often results in death from respiratory failure in 36 to 72 hours. Injected ricin causes death from multiple organ failure.

TRANSMISSION:

Unlike anthrax, ricin is not easily absorbed through the skin. Experts say it is not an efficient way of killing large numbers of people. It's estimated that 4 tons of ricin dispersed by aerosol would be needed to kill half of the people within an area of about 40 square miles, versus only 2 pounds of anthrax.

If injected, as little as 500 micrograms -- about the size of the head of a pin -- could be deadly, the CDC says. Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed in London in 1978 when a pinhead-sized pellet laced with ricin was injected into his thigh -- reportedly by a rigged umbrella.

Anthrax, which killed five people in 2001, can infect those who handle products such as wool from infected animals, by breathing in anthrax bacteria spores from infected animals or by eating undercooked meat from infected animals.

TREATMENT:

Ricin: none.

Anthrax: can be treated with antibiotics, although inhalation anthrax is much more severe and about half of the cases of inhalation anthrax in 2001 ended in death.

A vaccine has been developed, but it is not yet available for the general public. A judge halted a military vaccination program in December, saying the vaccine was experimental and was being "used for an unapproved purpose" -- that is, for exposure to inhaled anthrax, not just for exposure through the skin. That legal restraint was lifted in January and the military resumed administration of the shots.

ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION:

After the 2001 anthrax attacks, considerable attention was focused on Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert described by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "person of interest" in the investigation. Hatfill has denied any involvement and is suing the government, alleging his reputation has been damaged.

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On the Net:

CDC Ricin facts: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp

CDC Anthrax facts: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/anthrax/public.htm

AP-ES-02-03-04 1023EST