Two scientists at an American government lab were charged with smuggling vials of deactivated mpox virus into the country from Africa and lying about it during interviews with investigators at the airport, reports CNN.
Vincent Munster, chief of the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, and colleague Claude Kwe, were stopped at Detroit Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo.
Mpox has been linked to more than 2 000 deaths in the DRC, although a two-year outbreak was declared over in April.
The FBI, in a court filing, said that despite Munster “adamantly denying” returning to the US with biological materials or samples, tests subsequently revealed that both men were travelling with vials of deactivated mpox, yet had failed to declare them or obtain the necessary permission.
The two were expected to appear in federal court in Montana this week.
“This matter is currently under investigation, and the NIH is co-operating fully with law enforcement and appropriate authorities,” said the National Institutes of Health, which oversees the lab.
There was no mention in the court filing about why Munster and Kwe may have wanted to take the deactivated mpox virus to their lab, although both have apparently worked extensively on mpox research.
Munster told investigators at the airport that any necessary documents were in his laptop, “but you don’t need them. I do this all the time”, the FBI quoted him as saying.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Scientists call for stronger action in DRC mpox crisis
Most mpox cases can’t be tracked, says Africa CDC