(CNN) -- The doctor who has overseen the treatment
in Vienna of Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko says the diagnosis of
dioxin poisoning is "rock solid," but says more information must be obtained
before medical authorities can determine the candidate's prognosis.
Dr. Michael Zimpfer told CNN Sunday that he based his
conclusion on a physical examination of the patient and "various blood tests"
carried out at Vienna's Rudolfinerhaus Clinic and elsewhere.
Zimpfer told reporters over the weekend that the
concentration of dioxin in Yushchenko's body was "1,000 times above the normal
levels" and that he suspected "third-party involvement."
The revelation prompted Ukraine's prosecutor-general to
reopen a probe into the opposition leader's illness.
"We have sent samples to a lab within Europe and also
to labs across the Atlantic Ocean that claim to have vast experience, and they
came up with the results," Zimpfer told CNN late Sunday.
Yushchenko has "a tremendous amount of dioxin in the
blood," Zimpfer said, so much that "it's beyond the scale."
Yushchenko has accused Ukrainian authorities of having
tried to poison him in the run-up to November's fraudulent presidential
election.
Ukraine's Supreme Court voided the outcome after
Yushchenko lost to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, and a rerun of the contest
is slated to be held on December 26.
The 50-year-old, then-telegenic campaigner was taken to
the Vienna hospital in September, when he first fell ill. He resumed campaigning
later in the month but with a pockmarked and badly disfigured face.
Given what little medical information has been released
publicly, Yushchenko could have been exposed to any of about 20 dioxins or
dioxin-like chemicals, said Dr. Arnold Schecter, professor of medicine at the
University Texas School of Public Health at Southwestern Medical Center in
Dallas.