Canada's intelligence agency has warned Canadian police and security officials that Al Qaeda terrorists may try to contaminate water or food with deadly toxins.
Canada's Privy Council Office (PCO) has distributed to key federal authorities a secret intelligence report which expresses concern that Al Qaeda extremists may be plotting use lethal substances such as ricin and botulinum in a terrorist campaign.
A declassified version of the document was obtained by reporter Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
Toxins, some more powerful than the strongest nerve agents, can be made from a variety of plants, fungi, bacteria or animals, the report says. Toxins are not contagious, meaning potential victims must be directly exposed.
The February, 2003, report, "Ricin and Botulinum: Terrorist Use of Toxins," was compiled by the PCO intelligence assessment secretariat, a division bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The report was distributed to senior officials at the RCMP, CSIS, the ministries of health, defense, immigration and foreign affairs and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Ricin is a potent protein toxin derived from the beans of the castor plant. Castor beans are ubiquitous worldwide, and the toxin is fairly easily produced. Ricin is therefore a potentially widely available toxin. When inhaled as a small particle aerosol, this toxin may produce pathologic changes within 8 hours and severe respiratory symptoms followed by acute hypoxic respiratory failure in 36-72 hours.
Terrorist attacks with ricin would likely involve contamination of food or water, or dissemination as an aerosol, says the report.
Botulinum occurs naturally when food or other matter is contaminated by the bacteria clostridia.
Source: The Canadian Press
