A Dutch virologist who has been honored for helping to advance the development of the Covid vaccine now finds himself under the microscope of U.S. federal investigators.
The virologist, Dr. Vincent Munster, has been charged with conspiring to smuggle vials full of deactivated mpox and other biological materials into the United States in January, according to a criminal complaint unsealed last week. Dr. Munster, 53, leads the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a National Institutes of Health center in Montana.
A research assistant, Claude Kwe, 38, of Cameroon, who was traveling with Dr. Munster, was also charged. The two were stopped by customs officials in the Detroit airport after working in the Republic of Congo during an mpox epidemic, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan said.
In recent weeks, the right-wing influencer Laura Loomer had accused the institute of an attempt to cover up the episode, turning a campaign against Dr. Munster and his workplace into something of a conservative cause célèbre.
Ms. Loomer and White Coat Waste Project, an animal rights group that at first publicly disclosed the investigation based on a whistle-blower report, have framed the virologist as a potential national security threat.
Dr. Munster has long drawn the ire of White Coat Waste, which opposes taxpayer-funded scientific testing on animals and accuses him of “reckless, cruel experiments on primates and bats” that pose “serious biosafety and national security risks.”
In May, Ms. Loomer and the group called for action and answers from members of Congress and the Trump administration. She asked in a social media post directed at President Trump, among others, why Dr. Munster had not been jailed and why the lab had not been shut down.
“These N.I.H. experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak,” Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement announcing the complaint.
Dr. Munster’s lawyer, Mark J. O’Brien, told The New York Times in an email that the case “sounds a lot more salacious than it actually is.” The accused scientists were working on eradicating mpox, he added. “This is not a terrorism episode. This was done allegedly to further research.”
Dr. Munster’s research is focused on how viruses in animals change and are transmitted to humans. He has worked on studies on the role of fruit bats in the ecology of the Ebola virus, for example. The mission of the Virus Ecology Unit that he established at the Montana lab in 2013 “is to elucidate the ecology of emerging viruses and drivers of zoonotic and cross-species transmission,” according to his online biography.
He is “a well-published scientist with approximately 400 publications and 69,000 citations,” prosecutors noted in their filing.
According to prosecutors, the scientists were traveling in January with a plastic case that they told customs officials contained diagnostics and testing materials but instead turned out to have more than 100 vials with biological materials, including deactivated mpox virus, chickenpox virus and more.
Only about 20 of the vials have been tested so far, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Seventeen contained deactivated mpox virus, the agency said.
The mpox virus can cause rashes, fevers, chills and other symptoms. Deactivated viruses are not infectious and are used in research. Still, deactivated biological materials must be declared and certified as noninfectious, according to federal regulations.
The accused scientists “did not present the true identities of the biological materials in their possession and did not provide or possess the necessary certifications,” the F.B.I. said in an affidavit supporting the complaint.
The scientists, who appeared in District Court in Missoula, Mont., last Wednesday, surrendered their passports and were released on their own recognizance. The government must present findings to a grand jury to try to get an indictment by next month.
If the two are indicted and ultimately found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, prosecutors said.
Some lawmakers welcomed the charges. “Montana families deserve answers and accountability,” said Senator Tim Sheehy, Republican of Montana, who recently requested that the Department of Health and Human Services investigate Rocky Montana Laboratories.
Last week, Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, called the allegations “unbelievably disturbing” on social media and expressed gratitude for the work of the authorities “in stopping these pathogens before they got released into our country.” Prosecutors, however, have not accused the virologists of any such plot.
Dr. Munster’s case echoes similar charges against foreign scientists at a time when the Trump administration is targeting documented and undocumented immigrants.
Last year, a Chinese scientist in the Eastern District of Michigan was accused of conspiring to smuggle dangerous biological materials but said she had simply been trying to speed up her research into crop protection. Ultimately, the prosecution conceded that it could not prove she had ill intent. The Chinese Consulate in Chicago accused the United States of “political manipulation” in the case.
The National Institutes of Health said in a statement that it was cooperating with law enforcement officials in the investigation and that it had taken steps to ensure safety, to secure labs and to restrict access. It said it had also taken an inventory “to verify that all materials were appropriately accounted for, documented and maintained in accordance with all relevant biosafety policies, requirements and procedures.”
Mr. O’Brien, the scientist’s lawyer, said that, despite all the talk about his client on social media and the unwelcome attention from politicians, “Dr. Munster places his faith and confidence in the federal criminal judicial system.”
“Politics will not play any role in this case because this case is not about politics,” he added.
