An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit diverted to Canada over a biosecurity issue two weeks ago, with the U.S. refusing it landing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Air France had boarded a passenger “in error” who had recently been in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was subject to new Ebola-related entry restrictions. Canadian health officials assessed the passenger in Montreal, found the person asymptomatic, and sent the passenger back to Paris while the rest of the aircraft continued to Detroit.
Back in January, though, there was another story about passengers traveling from the Republic of Congo to Detroit with virus risk. These were National Institutes of Health researchers carrying undeclared monkeypox samples.
They’ve been charged with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and making false statements to federal law enforcement after allegedly carrying the undeclared biological samples through the Detroit airport.
The chief of the Virus Ecology Section in the Laboratory of Virology and a research fellow at the NIH Biosafety Level 4 laboratory in Montana were arrested bringing the samples back for their work on how viruses cross from one species to another. They picked up the monkeypox in Brazzaville where an outbreak was occurring.
CBP interviewed the men on arrival and noticed that they were traveling with a large black plastic case. The pair told officers the case contained diagnostic and testing equipment. But an inspection revealed styrofoam coolers holding 113 vials. The FBI tested 20 of them, and 17 contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained chickenpox virus, and two contained human DNA.
According to one of the researchers, “I do this all the time.”
Which is to say they don’t declare the biological agents they’re bringing into the country, follow chain-of-custody rules, or properly track biological materials. We learned something about not trusting biosecurity lab protocols six and a half years ago, but apparently maybe we didn’t.
(HT: Enilria)
CBP may be huffing and puffing for show in this matter.
Now when CBP doesn’t require paper declaration cards, doesn’t use declaration kiosks for passengers to make declarations, and sometimes CBP may not even ask questions until post-baggage claim (if even then), less is being declared than should be and travelers increasingly may assume that what was declared on a previous trip and ok is still ok and doesn’t need to be declared. A mess waiting to happen over and over again.
Fauci’s boys are still on the loose.
I think some jail time is in order for them.
I know, trust the “experts”.
I’m here to see people make excuses or poo poo scientists smuggling dangerous biological agents into the US
Good for thee but not for me. Fine the hell out of them!
Oops, I forgot to check the “disease agent” box. Sorry Mr Customs Agent…
I’m sure nobody has ever lied on the customs declaration form.
Not defending anyone, just confident it happens often.
And people call me nuts and being a conspiracy theorist. What more proof do you need?
Why not declare them if you’re a legitimate researcher authorized to do this? Can someone explain the logic? It can’t be pure laziness.
@GUWonder — Performative outrage? That’s practically the title chapter for this era in history!
I hope ther’s more to this story. These guys work in a BSL-4 lab, the highest level of containment for the highest risk pathogens. Other media are reporting that the virus specimens were inactivated (presumably dead), but the failure to truthfully state what was in the box when directly asked would make them ineligible to work in a lab where trust and professionalism is paramount.
No surprise with the wishy washy oversight and administration whose leader was in the basement.
This doesn’t surprise me. Note that the report you are giving says “deactivated”. Nothing you describe in that box is realistically a threat. You have a professional that knows what’s safe vs an absolute amateur (how much training in handling biological materials will a CPB officer have?) who will take the safe path of destroying the harmless stuff.
@Clairie: And people call me nuts and being a conspiracy theorist. What more proof do you need?
If you call this proof you have established that you’re a conspiracy nut. Deactivated biological agents are harmless. The only live thing being carried was chickenpox–and that’s only BSL 1.
If you want a conspiracy, look in the other direction. Looks an awful lot like eugenics. They phrase things to sound reasonable but it’s based on deception. Big one: “placebo controlled”–in most cases this is completely prohibited by medical ethics. Tests are always required to be the item under investigation vs the standard approach. Placebo only happens when there is no standard approach. (So the Covid vaccine **was** placebo-controlled, unlike just about everything else we use.) Or look at the proposed “test” in Guinea Bissau with delaying the hepatitis B vaccination. Looks an awful lot like Tuskegee.
The key : 17 out of the 20 were deactivated samples for research. One not deactivated was chicken pox the other 2 were just DNA samples. Sounds like a retribution charge
2319! 2319!!!!!
There are hundreds of labs all over the world being funded with our tax dollars for bioweapons development and using gain-of-function research. Prior to the war, Ukraine alone had over 40 known labs. Fort Detrick in Maryland is infamous for this. If you only knew the truth about deadly pathogens being transported carelessly between labs, some of you would become Doomsday Preppers overnight.
@Clairie:
We don’t need any more proof that you’re nuts and a conspiracy theorist.
The problem with a good conspiracy is you’ll never know anything about it, so you won’t be theorizing about it!
Hi 1990.
Indeed performative outrage is a defining characteristic of the era. Just look at unpatriotic OnePatriot77’s comment as an example of such.
@Loren. So were’ supposed to trust the guy skirting the rules that what he has is deactivated and carries no risk. I wonder what other shortcuts he takes in his labs and fieldwork and if they lead to any mistakes. Stunningly ignorant on your part.
But maybe @GU Blunder outdoes you. I hold a PhD scientist bringing back lab samples to a higher standard of complying with the rules than Aunt Jane who forgot she had an apple from the BA lounge in her backpack.
@Loren: if the samples are “dead” then why not declare “I have dead viral samples and DNA, except for one low level pathogen (varicella)”? The likely reason is that they couldn’t be bothered to spend the time to explain themselves to people they see as inferior. Again, if you work in a BSL, especially a BSL-4, clear, transparent and intellectually honest communication is an absolute must. That’s it, no conspiracy.
“dave” above is a person with double-standards and seems to lack respect for expertise in who knows and follows biosecurity measures better and controls for biohazard risks better. A de facto Trump supporter in the last election? Wouldn’t surprise me.
Their mistake was in failing to declare and failing to provide a certificate of treatment (attesting to the fact that the virus had been rendered inactive and the method(s) used to inactivate it). It is legal to import pathogens or materials that might carry pathogens if the pathogen has been treated with a method recognized by the USDA-APHIS as effective for inactivating the pathogen.