2 scientists charged with bringing deactivated mpox virus into the US and lying to authorities

DETROIT — Two scientists at a U.S. government laboratory have been charged with smuggling vials containing inactivated smallpox 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, head of the virus ecology division at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Coy, who works with him.

Munster and Coy were stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo. A smallpox outbreak has been linked to more than 2,000 deaths in Congo, a vast region in central Africa, although a two-year outbreak was declared over in April.

The FBI said in a lawsuit that Munster “vehemently denied” returning to the United States with biological materials or samples.

But tests later revealed that Munster and Coy were traveling with vials containing inactivated Mebox, the FBI said, but failed to declare them or obtain necessary permission.

“Any deliberate effort to conceal and smuggle biological materials into the United States without proper authorization is a violation of the public trust and could have put the public at risk,” said Marcus Sykes of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

Monster and Coy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are expected to appear in federal court in Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday.

The National Institutes of Health, which oversees the laboratory, said: “This matter is currently under investigation, and the National Institutes of Health is fully cooperating with law enforcement and appropriate authorities.” “As this is an ongoing investigation and personnel matter, we are limited in the additional information we can provide at this time.”

There was no mention in the government court filing about why Munster and Coy wanted to bring the inactivated mpox virus into their laboratory. The FBI said they were virologists who worked extensively on smallpox virus research.

Munster told investigators at the Detroit-area airport that any necessary documents were on his laptop, “but you don’t need them. I do it all the time,” the FBI said.

“It is reasonable to believe that Munster’s statements regarding the possession of the requested documents (to Customs officials) were materially false,” the FBI said.

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

Smallpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists in 1958 during an outbreak of a “smallpox-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 be spread through sex for the first time, leading to outbreaks in more than 70 countries that had not previously reported smallpox.