A radioactive substance that killed former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has been found in Italian contact Mario Scaramella but so far he shows no sign of radiation poisoning, a British hospital said.
However, an Italian senator who spoke to Mr Scaramella yesterday said health officials had told Scaramella the dose of radiation he has received is usually fatal.
Litvinenko's mysterious poisoning by the radioactive isotope polonium 210 has sparked a health scare and strained London's relations with Moscow. In another twist, British health officials said they had checked an area of top soccer club Arsenal's London stadium for radiation as part of the Litvinenko probe, but had found no risk to public health.
Litvinenko, a former agent turned fierce Kremlin critic, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his slow, agonising death. Moscow denies involvement. Other theories have centred on the possible involvement of rogue Russian agents.
Mr Scaramella met Litvinenko at a London sushi restaurant on November 1st, the same day the Russian fell ill, to show him e-mails from a source warning both their lives might be in danger.
Officials said a female relative of Litvinenko -reported to be his widow Marina - had traces of polonium 210 in her urine. They said she was not in short-term danger and any long-term risk was likely to be small. The London hospital treating Scaramella said he was well and initial tests showed no evidence of radiation sickness.
Italian Senator Paolo Guzzanti, who spoke to Scaramella by phone, said health officials had told him the amount of polonium in his body was 10 or 20 times less than that detected in Litvinenko, but was still in a lethal quantity.
"They also said so far, nobody could ever survive this poison, so it is very unlikely he could. But, if he doesn't collapse in three months, there is a kind of hope ... They said that every six months ... the radioactivity decreases by half," he told Reuters.
Italy's chief medical officer was briefed by health officials in London, a British government source said.
British authorities said this week that traces of radiation had been found at 12 sites and aboard planes that carried 33,000 passengers in the past month. "We know of nobody who has reported to any UK hospital with symptoms similar to Litvinenko," a government source said.