{"id":636,"date":"2026-06-03T20:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=636"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:44:34","slug":"two-government-virologists-smuggled-mpox-vials-into-the-u-s-its-not-clear-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=636","title":{"rendered":"Two government virologists smuggled Mpox vials into the U.S. It\u2019s not clear why"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in Detroit against Vincent Munster, who is chief of the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Kwe, who works with him.<\/p>\n

Read more Support for same-sex marriage hits lowest point in years as GOP acceptance collapses, Gallup finds<\/a><\/p>\n

Munster and Kwe were stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo. An outbreak of the mpox disease has been linked to more than 2,000 deaths in Congo, a vast region in central Africa, though a two-year outbreak was\u00a0declared over\u00a0in April.<\/p>\n

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Munster \u201cadamantly denied\u201d returning to the U.S. with biological materials or samples, the FBI said in a court filing.<\/p>\n

But tests subsequently revealed that Munster and Kwe were traveling with vials of deactivated mpox, the FBI said, yet they had failed to declare them or obtain the necessary permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny deliberate effort to conceal and smuggle biological materials into the United States without proper authorization is a breach of the public\u2019s trust and could have placed the public at risk,\u201d said Marcus Sykes of the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n

Munster and Kwe did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are expected to appear in federal court in Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis matter is currently under investigation, and NIH is cooperating fully with law enforcement and appropriate authorities,\u201d said the National Institutes of Health, which oversees the lab. \u201cBecause this is an ongoing investigation and personnel matter, we are limited in what additional information we can provide at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more A $245 million Bitcoin heist led police to a \u2018Godfather\u2019 who hired Sheriff\u2019s deputies as enforcers<\/a><\/p>\n

There was no mention in the government\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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Munster told investigators at the Detroit-area airport that any necessary documents were in his laptop, \u201cbut you don\u2019t need them. I do this all the time,\u201d the FBI quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is reasonable to believe that Munster\u2019s statements regarding the possession of the required documentation to (customs officers) were materially false,\u201d the FBI said.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists in 1958 during outbreaks of a \u201cpox-like\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the virus was confirmed to\u00a0spread via sex\u00a0for the first time and triggered outbreaks in more than 70 countries that had not previously reported mpox.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump retreats on $1.8 billion slush fund for DOJ after rare Republican resistance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the scientists told FBI investigators that necessary documents were in his laptop, \u201cbut you don’t need them. 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