A store of the deadly toxin Ricin was found in a Las Vegas extended stay hotel and as many as seven people are feared to have been exposed to the substance which has no known antidote. From CNN:

(CNN) — Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are investigating the discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a hotel room Thursday.

Authorities were called to an Extended Stay America hotel around 3 p.m. after a man brought a bag holding a small container to the manager’s office. The man said he found it while retrieving items from a hotel room.

It’s “100 percent ricin,” said Capt. Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “We don’t know who (the ricin) belongs to or why it would be here at this time.”

Three hotel employees and a fourth person who came to the room to retrieve some items were taken to the hospital as a precaution, Officer Ramon Dendy told CNN. Three police officers who went into the room are also being watched at the hospital. None of the seven have shown symptoms of ricin poisoning, which can include anything from difficulty breathing, fever, cough, nausea and sweating to severe vomiting and dehydration.

Lombardo said the “area of concern” is under quarantine and is going through a decontamination process. All seven people have been decontaminated.

Police said they don’t know how many people have stayed in the room recently.

The discovery of ricin alarms law-enforcement agencies because authorities in several countries have investigated links between suspect extremists and ricin.

“This is not a terror incident at this point,” Lombardo said.

The identification is still tentative, but authorities have made presumptive tests which indicate the substance is 100% Ricin. CNN has video of the press conference.

The hotel has been identified as part of the Extended Stay America Hotel chain and is close to the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel is designed to provide temporary housing for people who plan on spending longer periods of time away from home than the gambling weekends common in Vegas.

Fox is reporting that authorities are claiming this was not a terror incident and they do believe the Ricin was meant for an attack, however aside from certain specialized cancer research tests Ricin has no legitimate use.

Update: At least one person is being reported to have been exposed and sickened by the substance.

Update: Police believe the Ricin was part of a murder plot. The man exposed to the Ricin may be comatose and police are unsure if the Ricin was his or if he was a victim of another. Adam (S.O.B.) Housely is blogging the case.

Update: Police continue to deny terror link, though firearms and what’s described as an “anarchist textbook” were discovered, along with a dead dog. The dog died of starvation. As yet it is unknown what the man was up to, though the “textbook” had a section on ricin which was marked. The odd part of the story is that a starving dog would surly have made noise as it died, but no one reported anything amiss until the occupants relative showed up.