The two researchers were caught in January at Detroit airport, returning from Congo-Brazzaville with 113 vials in their suitcase, and 17 of the 20 tested by the FBI contain the deactivated Mpox virus, according to a statement from the US federal prosecutors in charge of the case.
Accused of lying about the contents of their suitcases
They do not specify what the intentions of the two men were: the Dutchman Vincent Munster, head of a section of a virology laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the main public medical research agency, and the associate researcher Claude Kwe, a Cameroonian.
The two, also accused of lying about the contents of their suitcases, work in a Montana laboratory with the highest level of transmission security, known as P4. They face up to five years in prison.
Mpox is no longer a "public health emergency" in Africa
In January, the African Union's health agency stated that the Mpox is no longer a "public health emergency" in Africa, stating that the number of cases has decreased. From January to the end of July 2025, more than 34,000 confirmed cases of Mpox had been reported to the WHO, including 138 deaths.
This disease is mainly characterized by a high fever and the appearance of skin lesions, known as vesicles.
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