A major emergency response in east Belfast today following a claim involving the nerve agent Novichok has understandably caused concern — but authorities have said there is no wider threat to the public and subsequent assessments found no Novichok or hazardous substance at the property.

Emergency services attended Harper Street in the Short Strand area of east Belfast on Wednesday morning after a woman reported that she had come into contact with Novichok.

Police, firefighters and ambulance crews attended, part of the street was cordoned off and nearby residents were temporarily moved from their homes while the circumstances were investigated.

The incident generated considerable speculation online because of the substance mentioned.

However, it is important to separate the initial claim from what has actually been established.

Latest reports state that no Novichok or other hazardous substance was detected, while the PSNI said during the incident that there was not believed to be a wider threat to the public.

One person was taken to the Mater Hospital, but reports indicate this was not as a result of exposure to a nerve agent.

So what exactly is Novichok, why is the name so alarming, and what would actually happen if somebody were exposed to it?

What is Novichok?

Novichok is not the name of one single chemical.

The term is commonly used for a group of extremely toxic nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Like other nerve agents, they interfere with the body’s ability to control muscles and vital functions by disrupting an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase.

Normally, this enzyme helps the nervous system effectively switch signals off after they have been transmitted.

When a nerve agent blocks it, a chemical messenger called acetylcholine accumulates. Nerves continue signalling muscles and glands when they should have stopped.

In a serious poisoning, the body can effectively lose control of essential functions — most critically breathing.

Why is Novichok so well known in the UK?

For most people in Britain and Ireland, the word Novichok became familiar following the Salisbury poisonings in 2018.

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found seriously ill in Salisbury after exposure to a Novichok nerve agent.

Police officer Nick Bailey was also poisoned during the incident and survived.

Several months later, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley were exposed after coming into contact with a contaminated perfume bottle. Ms Sturgess later died.

The events resulted in an enormous police, military and public-health operation and brought a previously obscure class of chemical weapons into international headlines.

What does Novichok do to the body?

Nerve agents attack the nervous system, and symptoms depend on factors including the substance involved, the amount of exposure and how someone came into contact with it.

Possible symptoms of nerve-agent poisoning can include:

• unusually small or “pinpoint” pupils
• blurred vision and watery eyes
• excessive sweating
• runny nose
• drooling or excessive saliva
• nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps
• diarrhoea
• chest tightness
• difficulty breathing
• muscle twitching and weakness
• confusion

With severe exposure, a person can suffer seizures, paralysis, loss of consciousness and respiratory failure.

Symptoms alone, however, do not prove that somebody has been exposed to Novichok. Many symptoms can have numerous other medical causes.

Is there an antidote?

One of the biggest myths surrounding Novichok is that exposure automatically means death.

It does not.

Nerve-agent poisoning is an extremely serious medical emergency, but treatments are available and people have survived confirmed Novichok poisoning.

Medical treatment can include antidotes such as atropine, alongside other specialist drugs and intensive supportive treatment.

Atropine works by counteracting some of the dangerous effects caused by the excessive build-up of acetylcholine.

Other treatment can be required to help restore normal nerve and muscle function, control seizures and support breathing.

Speed is extremely important.

This isn’t something that should ever be diagnosed or treated at home. Suspected exposure to a nerve agent requires specialist emergency and medical management.

MYTH: “If Novichok is nearby, everyone in the area will be poisoned”

Not necessarily.

Risk depends on the particular chemical, its form, quantity, concentration, route of exposure and environmental conditions.

Simply being somewhere in the same neighbourhood as a suspected incident does not mean someone has been exposed.

That is also why emergency services may establish cordons or evacuate nearby properties before they know exactly what they are dealing with. Precautions can be taken while specialists establish whether a hazardous substance is actually present.

MYTH: “You would immediately know you’d touched it”

Not always.

The onset of nerve-agent symptoms can vary according to how exposure occurs.

Inhalation can produce effects very quickly, while effects following some forms of skin exposure can take longer to appear.

This is one reason suspected chemical incidents are treated so seriously even before the substance involved has been confirmed.

MYTH: “There is no treatment for Novichok”

False.

There is no simple tablet that somebody can take at home and consider themselves “cured”, but nerve-agent poisoning can be treated.

Antidotes, decontamination, respiratory support and intensive hospital care can all form part of treatment.

Survival is possible, as demonstrated by victims of previous confirmed Novichok poisonings.

MYTH: “Today’s Belfast incident means Novichok was found here”

There is currently no evidence supporting that claim.

The emergency response followed a woman’s report that she had come into contact with Novichok.

Emergency services responded appropriately to a potentially extremely serious chemical incident, but subsequent reports state that assessments found no Novichok and no hazardous substance at the property.

That distinction is important, particularly as dramatic claims can spread very quickly on social media during a breaking incident.

Why such a huge emergency response if nothing was found?

Because when emergency services receive a credible report involving a potentially lethal chemical agent, they cannot simply assume it is false.

Police, ambulance and fire crews have procedures for dealing with potential chemical incidents, protecting casualties, emergency personnel and the surrounding public while the risk is assessed.

A large emergency response therefore doesn’t itself confirm that a chemical weapon is present.

In this case, the response appears to have done exactly what it was designed to do: secure the area, assess the potential danger and establish whether there was a threat to other people.

What should you do during a suspected chemical incident?

The most important advice is simple: follow instructions from the emergency services.

Don’t approach a cordon to see what is happening and don’t touch suspicious substances, containers or objects.

If authorities tell residents to remain indoors, evacuate or avoid a particular location, follow that advice until the area has been declared safe.

Anyone who genuinely believes they have been exposed to a dangerous chemical should contact the emergency services and follow their instructions rather than attempting to investigate or treat the substance themselves.

What we know about the Belfast incident

As things stand, today’s incident began with a report of possible contact with Novichok in Harper Street in east Belfast.

That understandably prompted a substantial emergency response.

But the crucial development is that no Novichok or hazardous substance has been found and there is not believed to be a wider danger to the public.

For residents across Belfast, that is the most important fact to take from today’s incident.

LoveBelfast will update this story should further confirmed information be released by the emergency services.