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

June 5, 2026

Electron micrograph of mpox virus infected cells

(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. (Read More)