Toxin Found In Las Vegas Hotel

A container of the deadly toxin ricin was brought to the manager's office of the Extended Stay America hotel Thursday by a man who had been retrieving items from the hotel room.

The police who were called in revealed that the container contained 100 percent ricin within. Four people from the hotel were taken to the hospital for precaution after the discovery. Three police officers that went into the room are also being observed at the hospital. At this point all seven have been free of symptoms of the toxin. Ricin poisoning has the potential to cause difficulty breathing, fever, cough, nausea and sweating to severe vomiting and dehydration. The hotel room and all areas of concern have been quarantined. A decontamination process has been started. Those in the hospital have already been decontaminated. The number of guests that have stayed in the room is not known at this time. According to Capt. Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at this time the discovery is not considered a terror incident. There are no suspects yet as the investigation begins. The poison ricin comes from the left over after processing castor beans. The toxin comes in mist or pellet form. It can be dissolved in water or weak acid. It takes very little of the poison to be lethal. 6000 times more poisonous than cyanide it can be inhaled, injected or ingested. The size of the head of a pin can kill an adult. It works by entering cells and then blocking the cell from producing the proteins that it needs. Those who do survive the severe diarrhea and shock often have to contend with long term organ damage. Some ricins have been used in the treatment of cancer. In some cases it is considered a 'magic bullet' attacking malignant cells that are linked to monoclonal antibodies. It is more well known though for its negative uses. Georgi Markov was assassinated by the toxin in 1978. It is suspected that the Bulgarian secret police shot him in the leg with a pellet of the poison. A few days later in hospital he died. What makes ricin so dangerous is that there is not specific antidote. There were castor beans found in the room along with powder in a small vial according to Lombardo. Ricin in itself is not illegal to own and only becomes illegal if processed to use in poisoning another person.