2 scientists charged with bringing deactivated mpox virus into the US
and lying to authorities
[June 03, 2026]
By ED WHITE
DETROIT (AP) — Two scientists at a U.S. 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 a Michigan
airport, authorities said Tuesday.
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.
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 declared over in April.
Munster “adamantly denied” returning to the U.S. with biological
materials or samples, the FBI said in a court filing.
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.
"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.
“This matter is currently under investigation, and NIH is cooperating
fully with law enforcement and appropriate authorities,” said the
National Institutes of Health, which oversees the lab. “Because this is
an ongoing investigation and personnel matter, we are limited in what
additional information we can provide at this time.”
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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.
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