Police investigating possible poisoning of a junior Wimbledon player

Police in a London borough are investigating the alleged poisoning of an 18-year-old tennis player who became sick during the junior tournament at Wimbledon and had to drop out of her quarterfinal match.

The Merton Metropolitan Police Service told ABC News that Gabriella Taylor of Great Britain is still recovering, and they believe that if she was poisoned, it took place July 1-10. They are treating this as a case of poisoning with intent to endanger life or cause grievous bodily harm, police said, but they are unsure where or when she ingested the poison. The Associated Press reports that Taylor fell ill with leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can spread when a person touches water or soil contaminated with urine from infected cattle, rats, pigs, and dogs. Public Health England says this is a fairly uncommon condition, with just 71 confirmed cases in England and Wales in 2015.

On July 7, Taylor withdrew from her match against an American opponent, and tweeted she "could've got far in this slam if it wasn't for this virus." On July 11, she tweeted that she spent the past four days in intensive care "suffering from an unknown cause." Leptospirosis typically causes flu-like symptoms, but patients can experience internal bleeding and organ failure. Taylor tweeted on Wednesday that she is back on the tennis court and "taking it step by step."

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