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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Brigham Young University student working an internship in Washington, D.C., has been quarantined while being monitored for symptoms of ricin poisoning.
Elizabeth Lewis was among 33 people in a Senate office building mailroom on Monday when an envelop containing the ricin powder was opened.
Lewis, an intern for Senate majority leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and the others were immediately put through a decontamination process following the discovery of the powder.
Sgt. Contricia Sellers-Ford of the U.S. Capitol Police said those exposed are being closely monitored for symptoms of ricin poisoning.
Lewis has been directed not to comment to the press because of the ongoing investigation.
Lewis' mother, Patricia Lewis, told the Deseret Morning News that her daughter is currently quarantined with the others but has not developed any of the deadly symptoms of ricin poisoning.
"It's been a trying 24 hours," Patricia Lewis said Tuesday from her home in Humboldt, Tenn. "I'll be glad when another 48 hours passes to know that she is OK."
Her daughter is a print journalism major at BYU, but her internship is not coordinated through the university in Provo, Utah.
Instead, Lewis sought out the internship on her own with Frist, who represents her home state.
Connie Cluff, BYU communications department internship coordinator, said when she heard news reports about the ricin contamination in Frist's office, she immediately called Lewis to see if she was safe.
"She's pretty confidant; she's got the maturity to handle it well," Cluff said.
If she had to make the decision again, her mother said she would still let Elizabeth go to Washington.
"You can't stop living, you just have to trust Heavenly Father," Patricia Lewis said.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
