Two scientists at a U.S. government lab were charged with smuggling vials of deactivated mpox virus into the United States from Africa and lying about it to investigators at a Michigan airport.
Charges Filed
Vincent Munster, chief of the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Kwe, who works with him, were stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo.
An outbreak of mpox disease has been linked to more than 2,000 deaths in Congo.
Key Details
- Munster "adamantly denied" returning to the U.S. with biological materials or samples, the FBI said.
- Tests later showed that Munster and Kwe were traveling with vials of deactivated mpox, but they had failed to declare them or obtain the necessary permission.
Statements
Marcus Sykes of the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services said: "Any deliberate effort to conceal and smuggle biological materials into the United States without proper authorization is a breach of the public's trust and could have placed the public at risk."
Munster and Kwe did not respond to requests for comment. They are expected to appear in federal court in Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday.
The National Institutes of Health, which oversees the lab, said: "This matter is currently under investigation, and NIH is cooperating fully with law enforcement and appropriate authorities."
Background
Munster and Kwe are virologists who have worked extensively on mpox research, the FBI said.
According to the FBI, Munster told investigators that any necessary documents were in his laptop, "but you don't need them. I do this all the time."
The FBI said: "It is reasonable to believe that Munster's statements regarding the possession of the required documentation to (customs officers) were materially false."
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, was first identified in 1958 in monkeys. Most human cases have been in central and West Africa. In 2022, the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time and triggered outbreaks in more than 70 countries.