On October 15, 2003, an envelope with a threatening note and a sealed container was processed at a mail processing and distribution facility in Greenville, South Carolina. The note threatened to poison water supplies if demands were not met. The envelope was isolated from workers and other mail and removed from the facility, and an investigation was begun. On October 21, laboratory testing at CDC confirmed that ricin was present in the container. To assess the human health effects related to possible ricin exposure, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and CDC interviewed all workers at the postal facility and initiated statewide surveillance for illness consistent with ricin exposure during October 15--29. On October 22, the facility was closed for a detailed epidemiologic and environmental investigation. This report summarizes the results of the investigation, which found no evidence of environmental contamination and no cases of ricin-associated illness. Clinicians and public health officials should be vigilant for illnesses suggestive of ricin exposure.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.