Two US scientists charged with illegally importing mpox virus from Africa

Two scientists employed at a US government laboratory have been charged with illegally importing vials of deactivated mpox virus into the country from Africa, and subsequently lying to investigators at a Michigan airport, authorities said on Tuesday.

A criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in Detroit against Vincent Munster, who heads the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and his colleague, Claude Kwe.

The pair were intercepted at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January following a flight from Paris, after spending nine days in the Republic of Congo. The African nation recently saw a significant mpox outbreak, linked to over 2,000 deaths, though it was declared over in April.

According to an FBI court filing, Munster "adamantly denied" returning to the US with any biological materials or samples. However, subsequent tests claimed that both Munster and Kwe were travelling with vials of deactivated mpox, which they had failed to declare or obtain the necessary permissions for.

"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,” said Marcus Sykes of the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Munster and Kwe did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are expected to appear in federal court in Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday. An email seeking comment was also sent to HHS, the lab's parent agency.

There was no mention in the government's court filing about why Munster and Kwe may have wanted to bring the deactivated mpox virus to their lab. But they are virologists who have worked extensively on mpox research, the FBI said.

Munster told investigators at the Detroit-area 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.

“It is reasonable to believe that Munster's statements regarding the possession of the required documentation to (customs officers) were materially false,” the FBI said.

The most common symptoms of mpox, according to the World Health Organization, are a rash and fever, but it can sometimes cause serious illness. Most people recover fully.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists in 1958 during outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in monkeys. Until a few years ago, most human cases were seen in people in central and West Africa who had close contact with infected animals.

In 2022, the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time and triggered outbreaks in more than 70 countries that had not previously reported mpox.