Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

London Police Find Lethal Toxin Ricin, Arrest Seven People

Aired January 07, 2003 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to this breaking news that we're following out of London, the arrests of seven people. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) six men and one woman taken in for questioning in relation to this poison, ricin, that was discovered at some of their residences. These people range in age from their late teens to their 30s.
Once again, they've been taken into custody. Scotland Yard is questioning them. And we have a lot of questions today about this poison that is called ricin, what it is and what it can do to you. And for that, we're going to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta to tell us more about that.

Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It's not a toxin that we hear a lot about. We hear a lot about anthrax, we hear a lot about smallpox -- things like that. But ricin is something that's been around for a while.

Simply put: It's a derivative of castor seed oil, and it's a toxin that people have known about for quite some time. It can be absorbed across the skin, you can actually eat it, you can inhale it, you can get in your bloodstream -- any of those possible things can lead to a real problem with toxicity. But that's the bad news.

The good news part about it is that when you talk about anthrax vs. this ricin, the same amount of anthrax, about 1 kilogram, would be 4 metric tons of the ricin to produce the same effect. You'd need a lot of it. So, a little bit of it is really not going to create much of a problem.

Let's look at some of the symptoms that you'd actually have from that. You'd have fever, gastrointestinal problems -- this is any way that you got it, even across your skin, if you ate it, if you inhaled -- coughing, respiratory problems. Daryn, that's where the real problem begins. That's where people could possibly die from this.

What this ricin does is it causes this sort of scarring of your lungs. First the coughing, and then the scarring of the lungs. Your lungs fill up with fluid, and this all happens within hours. And if someone is going to die from ricin, which can happen, that's the way that it typically occurs.

KAGAN: So, what about treatment if you're exposed to it? GUPTA: The treatment, there is no vaccine, there is no specific antibiotics. This isn't the bacteria that's in the (ph) virus. This is a different sort of toxin. There's really no treatment.

What typically you have to do is someone has to get you to a hospital, you've got to stop the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and then basically put the patient on a ventilator to try and support their breathing for them while the ricin (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is going on.

KAGAN: Now, there was a note (ph), a doctor, I would imagine, would have to know that the person has been exposed to ricin...

GUPTA: Yes.

KAGAN: ... in order to treat them. As we saw with the early anthrax attacks, a lot of doctors weren't really clued in on what that might be, if it was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GUPTA: That's right. And this is even a more of a newer (ph) one, and people are sort of geared up on the anthrax. They have their antennas up on that one. Ricin is even less common. But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there is no treatment specifically for it. And you'd still do all the same things, in hospital language, we call them the ABCs. Make sure they have an airway, make sure they're breathing, make sure their circulation is supported -- all those things are still important with any kind of poisoning, ricin being no different than those.

KAGAN: And, of course, the good news today, it's surprising (ph) that no one was exposed to parts (ph) of this toxic stuff that was discovered...

(CROSSTALK)

GUTPA: Right, and you need lots of it -- lots of it to have any problems, that's right.

KAGAN: ... to do a lot of damage. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




People>


Aired January 7, 2003 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to this breaking news that we're following out of London, the arrests of seven people. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) six men and one woman taken in for questioning in relation to this poison, ricin, that was discovered at some of their residences. These people range in age from their late teens to their 30s.
Once again, they've been taken into custody. Scotland Yard is questioning them. And we have a lot of questions today about this poison that is called ricin, what it is and what it can do to you. And for that, we're going to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta to tell us more about that.

Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It's not a toxin that we hear a lot about. We hear a lot about anthrax, we hear a lot about smallpox -- things like that. But ricin is something that's been around for a while.

Simply put: It's a derivative of castor seed oil, and it's a toxin that people have known about for quite some time. It can be absorbed across the skin, you can actually eat it, you can inhale it, you can get in your bloodstream -- any of those possible things can lead to a real problem with toxicity. But that's the bad news.

The good news part about it is that when you talk about anthrax vs. this ricin, the same amount of anthrax, about 1 kilogram, would be 4 metric tons of the ricin to produce the same effect. You'd need a lot of it. So, a little bit of it is really not going to create much of a problem.

Let's look at some of the symptoms that you'd actually have from that. You'd have fever, gastrointestinal problems -- this is any way that you got it, even across your skin, if you ate it, if you inhaled -- coughing, respiratory problems. Daryn, that's where the real problem begins. That's where people could possibly die from this.

What this ricin does is it causes this sort of scarring of your lungs. First the coughing, and then the scarring of the lungs. Your lungs fill up with fluid, and this all happens within hours. And if someone is going to die from ricin, which can happen, that's the way that it typically occurs.

KAGAN: So, what about treatment if you're exposed to it? GUPTA: The treatment, there is no vaccine, there is no specific antibiotics. This isn't the bacteria that's in the (ph) virus. This is a different sort of toxin. There's really no treatment.

What typically you have to do is someone has to get you to a hospital, you've got to stop the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and then basically put the patient on a ventilator to try and support their breathing for them while the ricin (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is going on.

KAGAN: Now, there was a note (ph), a doctor, I would imagine, would have to know that the person has been exposed to ricin...

GUPTA: Yes.

KAGAN: ... in order to treat them. As we saw with the early anthrax attacks, a lot of doctors weren't really clued in on what that might be, if it was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GUPTA: That's right. And this is even a more of a newer (ph) one, and people are sort of geared up on the anthrax. They have their antennas up on that one. Ricin is even less common. But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there is no treatment specifically for it. And you'd still do all the same things, in hospital language, we call them the ABCs. Make sure they have an airway, make sure they're breathing, make sure their circulation is supported -- all those things are still important with any kind of poisoning, ricin being no different than those.

KAGAN: And, of course, the good news today, it's surprising (ph) that no one was exposed to parts (ph) of this toxic stuff that was discovered...

(CROSSTALK)

GUTPA: Right, and you need lots of it -- lots of it to have any problems, that's right.

KAGAN: ... to do a lot of damage. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




People>