9 hours ago
DETROIT (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.
Munster and Kwe were stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo. An outbreak of the mpox disease has been linked to more than 2,000 deaths in Congo, a vast region in central Africa, though a two-year outbreak was declared over in April.
Munster “adamantly denied” returning to the U.S. with biological materials or samples, the FBI said in a court filing.
But tests subsequently revealed that Munster and Kwe were traveling with vials of deactivated mpox, the FBI said, yet they had failed to declare them or obtain the necessary permission.
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.
Munster and Kwe were stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January after a flight from Paris and nine days in the Republic of Congo. An outbreak of the mpox disease has been linked to more than 2,000 deaths in Congo, a vast region in central Africa, though a two-year outbreak was declared over in April.
Munster “adamantly denied” returning to the U.S. with biological materials or samples, the FBI said in a court filing.
But tests subsequently revealed that Munster and Kwe were traveling with vials of deactivated mpox, the FBI said, yet they had failed to declare them or obtain the necessary permission.
22 hours ago
(NewsNation) — A leading physician and entrepreneur is raising concerns about how long the Ebola virus can survive in the human body, and warning that the standard 21-day monitoring window may not be enough.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, executive chairman of ImmunityBio, said research from Washington State University shows the virus can persist in the body for hundreds of days after infection — including in breast milk and ******* .
Race for Ebola vaccine intensifies as outbreak spreads in Congo
“Once Ebola patients get the infection, the latency and persistence can continue for hundreds of days,” Soon-Shiong said. “The question is, with the 21-day incubation period, do we get concerned about that? There’s a lot of unknowns.”
Soon-Shiong says health authorities are “taking a very proactive stance to treat patients who are very, very ill,” he said, adding that many patients in the current outbreak have severely compromised immune systems.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, executive chairman of ImmunityBio, said research from Washington State University shows the virus can persist in the body for hundreds of days after infection — including in breast milk and ******* .
Race for Ebola vaccine intensifies as outbreak spreads in Congo
“Once Ebola patients get the infection, the latency and persistence can continue for hundreds of days,” Soon-Shiong said. “The question is, with the 21-day incubation period, do we get concerned about that? There’s a lot of unknowns.”
Soon-Shiong says health authorities are “taking a very proactive stance to treat patients who are very, very ill,” he said, adding that many patients in the current outbreak have severely compromised immune systems.
1 day ago
BEIJING, June 1 (Reuters) - China and the U.S. held "candid and constructive" exchanges at a meeting in Hawaii on air and maritime safety last week, agreeing that improved communication could reduce miscalculations and enhance professionalism, the Chinese Navy said.
The May 28-29 meeting was attended by representatives from both sides' militaries, it said in a statement late on Monday.
A separate statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said that it hosted representatives from the People's Liberation Army in Honolulu for discussions focused on reducing the risk of unsafe and unprofessional encounters.
The meeting follows a high-profile summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump last month and could ease concerns about a lack of communication after the absence of top Chinese military officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional defence forum, in Singapore over the weekend.
At last month's summit, Xi and Trump agreed to pursue a "constructive relationship of strategic stability", which ****** ysts say could set practical boundaries for how the two powers interact.
The May 28-29 meeting was attended by representatives from both sides' militaries, it said in a statement late on Monday.
A separate statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said that it hosted representatives from the People's Liberation Army in Honolulu for discussions focused on reducing the risk of unsafe and unprofessional encounters.
The meeting follows a high-profile summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump last month and could ease concerns about a lack of communication after the absence of top Chinese military officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional defence forum, in Singapore over the weekend.
At last month's summit, Xi and Trump agreed to pursue a "constructive relationship of strategic stability", which ****** ysts say could set practical boundaries for how the two powers interact.
