Sarin poisoning Matsumoto incident

The only reported incidents of nerve agent poisoning, where biomedical samples have been obtained, are those resulting from terrorist dissemination of sarin in Matsumoto (1994) and the Tokyo subway (1995), plus an assassination using VX, also in Japan (60). In contrast to the CW incidents involving sulfur mustard, many of the biomedical samples associated with these terrorist attacks were collected within hours of the event. 

Nakajima, T., S. Sato, H. Morita, and N. Yanagisawa. 1997. Sarin poisoning of a rescue team in the Matsumoto sarin incident in Japan. Occup. Environ. Med. 54 697-701. 

Yokoyama et al. (1998) have evaluated the chronic neurobehavioral effects related to post-traumatic stress disorder induced by exposure to sarin in male and female patients in the Tokyo subway incident in 1995. Naka-jima et al. (1998) conducted an epidemiological stndy and discussed the muscarinic and nicotinic signs in the victims of sarin poisoning in Matsumoto City, Japan, in 1994. 

The two most recent examples of the use of chemical weapons are the sarin poisoning incident in Matsumoto, a Japanese residential community, in 1994, and the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway... 

Sadly, chemical warfare weapons are dangerous instruments of terror. Two recent episodes in which sarin was used by terrorists in Japan cast a cloud over attempts to control the use of these weapons. Sarin was released in a residential area of the city of Matsumoto on June 27, 1994, and in a crowded Tokyo subway less than a year later, on March 20, 1995. In Matsumoto, about 600 residents and rescuers were affected and seven died. More than 5500 people were poisoned and 12 died in the Tokyo incident. Many more might have perished if it were not for the quick action and bravery of firemen, police, and others and the availability of antidotes in Japanese hospitals. (Two subway attendants died removing containers of sarin from subway cars.)... 

Chemical warfare nerve agents pose a potential threat to the general public as well as the military, as evidenced by several incidents. Between 1980 and 1988, sarin (GB) was used by Iraq in the war with Iran, with the most notable incident occurring in 1988 when a Kurdish city in northern Iraq was bombarded with chemicals, possibly including GB, tabun (GA) and 0-ethyl 5-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate (VX). In 1994 and 1995, the Aum Shinrikyo sect attacked subways in Matsumoto and Tokyo with GB, and also attacked individuals with VX in Osaka and Tokyo. One of these individual attacks resulted in the death of the intended victim. The victim had VX deposited on his neck and exhibited symptoms typical of organo-phosphate poisoning, but confirmation of the nerve agent used could only be achieved after his death with the testimony from one of the suspected attackers and detection of VX metabolites [ethyl methylphosphonic acid (EMPA) and 2-(diisopropylamino-ethyl)methyl sulfide (DAEMS)] in a blood sample taken approximately 1 h after the attack. 

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