British Tennis Player Gabriella Taylor ‘Poisoned With Rat Urine Bacteria’ At Wimbledon

Police are investigating the possibility a British tennis player was deliberately poisoned during last month’s Wimbledon Championships.
Gabriella Taylor, 18, was forced to withdraw midway through the girl’s quarter-finals and spent four days in intensive care “close to death”.
It was initially thought she had contracted a virus while playing overseas but was eventually diagnosed with a virus that can be transmitted through rat urine called Leptospirois.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into whether or not she was deliberately poisoned, possibly by an organised betting syndicate or a rival player or coach, reports the Telegraph.

Taylor’s mother, Milena, said her daughter was staying “in a completely healthy environment” and it was “impossible” for her to have become ill. “The bacteria the infection team found is so rare in Britain that we feel this could not have been an accident,” she told the Telegraph.
“Her bags with her drinks in were often left unattended in the players’ lounge and someone could have taken the opportunity to contaminate her drink.”

No arrests have been made, reports the Press Association.
“The allegation was received by officers on August 5 with the incident alleged to have taken place at an address in Wimbledon between July 1-10. The victim was taken ill on July 6. It is unknown where or when the poison was ingested,” a police spokesman said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/gabriella-taylor-wimbledon_uk_57ac1107e4b0b3afa75d0f2b?utm_hp_ref=uk

Most likely contracted by regular means... where there are rats, there is rat piss, and leptospirosis is in the piss...


Could easily have been picked up on her footwear and then transferred through hand contact with footwear...

The bug is extremely rare, the likelihood of her picking it up is even rarer considering how careful sportsmen about cleanliness and coming into contact with dirt.

Contracting it is rare but only because we are careful and wash hands a lot etc...

Nope, the bug is rare because it is unusual for rat urine to get into places where people are. Normally the few cases where people have picked it up are in river settings.

The bacteria that cause leptospirosis are spread through the urine of infected animals, which can get into water or soil and can survive there for weeks to months. Many different kinds of wild and domestic animals carry the bacterium.

These can include, but are not limited to:

Cattle
Pigs
Horses
Dogs
Rodents
Wild animals
When these animals are infected, they may have no symptoms of the disease.

Infected animals may continue to excrete the bacteria into the environment continuously or every once in a while for a few months up to several years.

Humans can become infected through:

Contact with urine (or other body fluids, except saliva) from infected animals.
Contact with water, soil, or food contaminated with the urine of infected animals.
The bacteria can enter the body through skin or mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth), especially if the skin is broken from a cut or scratch. Drinking contaminated water can also cause infection. Outbreaks of leptospirosis are usually caused by exposure to contaminated water, such as floodwaters. Person to person transmission is rare.


http://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/infection/

The Police suspect foul play and clarly there most be leads linking to this.

So I would be intersted to see how this pans out

Its not the first time there has been rigging in Tennis

There are many easier things to do to nobble someone than to find and administer a rare bacterium...