Two scientists accused of smuggling mpox samples into U.S.

Federal agents charged two scientists on Tuesday for trying to smuggle vials of monkeypox virus from Africa into the United States. Vincent Munster, who is Dutch, and Claude Kwe, a Cameroonian, then lied to investigators about their efforts, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said. Munster, 53, works as the chief of the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont., and Kwe, 38, works as a research fellow, according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors said samples had been deactivated, meaning the vials didn’t pose an active viral threat. But the scientists failed to declare the vials of the virus when entering the U.S. or obtain the necessary permission to transport mpox, Gorgon added. Deliberate efforts to smuggle biological materials without proper authorization can place the public at risk, said Marcus Sykes, an inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Institutes of Health, which oversees the Montana lab, said it was investigating the matter. WORLD was unable to contact Kwe, and Munster did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Why did the men have mpox vials on them? Agents stopped the men at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January. They discovered the two were carrying vials in a black case that contained the deactivated mpox virus, the chickenpox virus, and human DNA, Gorgon said. Munster and Kwe told federal officials the case contained diagnostic and testing equipment. But when officials discovered otherwise, Munster adamantly denied he was carrying biological materials, the complaint said.

Officials said that the men’s travels originated from the Republic of Congo, where an mpox outbreak was occurring. The men told agents they had been studying a strain of mpox while there. The complaint did not specify why the pair may have wanted to bring the virus to their lab in the United States. 

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on the Ebola outbreak closing national borders in Africa.