LAS VEGAS — 

There was no indication of any link to terrorist activity, Las Vegas police Deputy Chief Kathy Suey said at a pre conference.

The man was admitted to Spring Valley Hospital in Las Vegas in critical condition on Feb. 14, hospital spokes Naomi Jones said. Suey said he had made an emergency call for help because of breathing problems. His name was not made public. investigation of the apparent ricin didn't begin until Thursday, police said, after someone Suey identified as "a friend or rel went to the sick man's hotel room to retrieve his belongings and found "several" vials of a powder and brought it to the motel manager. Police were ultimately called to the Extended Stay America Motel several blocks west of the Las Vegas Strip.

Seve people, including the man who found the ricin, the manager, two other motel employees and three police officers were decontamin at the scene and taken to hospitals for examination but none have shown any signs of being affected by ricin, Suey said. All we released overnight.

Ricin is made from processing castor beans and can be extremely lethal. As little as 500 micrograms, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta our investigation we did find that there was a subject who had been a previous occupant of that hotel room who is currently hos in critical condition here locally as a possible result of exposure to ricin," Suey said.

Two preliminary tests, one by p and one by the Nevada National Guard, concluded that the substance was ricin. A third test from a local lab confirmed the resul Suey said.

"There is no information to lead us to believe that this is the result of any terrorist activity or related to any possible terrorist activity," she said. "We don't even know that it was him that was in possession of the ricin."

Pol said the sick man, believed to be in his 40s or 50s, is not considered to be a criminal suspect. Suey said he was unconscious, and police had not been able to interview him.

Suey would not say how many vials were found or how much ricin they contain Officials said the vials were in a plastic bag, and castor beag bilei"1379730bilei"

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