Mpox smuggling case prompts congressional scrutiny of National Institutes of Health

A view of mpox test kits in Tamesna, Morocco, on 28 November 2024. Photograph: Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP View image in fullscreen A view of mpox test kits in Tamesna, Morocco, on 28 November 2024. Photograph: Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP Mpox smuggling case prompts congressional scrutiny of National Institutes of Health House committee seeks records after two agency scientists were charged over undeclared samples The US House committee on energy and commerce is “ examining concerns ” about the National Institutes of Health after two NIH scientists were charged with allegedly smuggling mpox into the United States and misleading investigators. Federal law enforcement alleges that Dr Vincent Munster, 53, a Dutch national and chief of the virus ecology section at the NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Montana, and Claude Kwe, 38, a research fellow from Cameroon, transported vials containing monkeypox, now known as mpox, into the country without declaring them to customs and then “lying about it”. Rocky Mountain Laboratories is an NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) facility that contains biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories, the highest level of biocontainment, where researchers study dangerous pathogens like Ebola and Nipah virus, often using animals such as bats and monkeys. Munster is a “ well-published scientist with approximately 400 publications and 69,000 citations”. Together Munster and Kwe have co-authored 12 reports related to mpox since 2023. According to a criminal complaint filed on 2 June, the scientists arrived at the Detroit metropolitan airport on 25 January after a nine-day research trip to the Republic of Congo, where they had been studying the mpox strain linked to the country’s current outbreak. Mpox is a viral disease that can cause fever, swollen lymph nodes and a painful rash. In 2024 alone, Africa reported 80,276 suspected cases of mpox and 1,340 deaths from it. A US attorney’s office press release states that Customs and Border Protection officials questioned the scientists about a “large black plastic case” they were carrying through the airport. The researchers allegedly told officials that the container held “diagnostic and testing equipment”. However, a subsequent inspection reportedly uncovered 113 sealed laboratory vials packed inside styrofoam coolers. When asked for required documentation, Munster allegedly replied: “Yes yes, it’s all in my laptop, but you won’t need them. I do this all the time.” Authorities say laboratory analysis has so far examined 20 of the vials. Seventeen allegedly contained “inactivated monkeypox virus, one contained chickenpox virus and two contained human DNA”. The contents of the remaining vials have not been publicly identified. The importation of biological agents, including deactivated samples rendered non-infectious, are subject to strict regulatory requirements in the US. Prosecutors allege that Munster and Kwe required authorisation and documentation to transpo