Bioscience Resource Project

The virus hunter and his contraband A prominent virologist is alleged to have brought pathogens into the US without authorization. The FBI is investigating. On January 25, 2026, virologist Vincent Munster travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Detroit by plane. At the airport, officials asked him to open his luggage. They found dozens of vials containing patient samples – without the necessary paperwork. This was initially reported by a whistleblower. The FBI is now investigating. Munster researches dangerous pathogens, including Ebola and monkeypox viruses, at his workplace, a high-security laboratory in Montana. He has also been involved in projects by the US military's research agency. In 2017, the scientific journal " Science " described how the virus researcher and his team captured bats in the Democratic Republic of Congo to collect blood and urine samples. Munster returns to this location repeatedly, always searching for active Ebola viruses, which he hopes to find in the bats. However, the article stated: "Sending material that could contain the Ebola virus is a bureaucratic nightmare. It can take months for the samples to arrive in the USA." The exact contents of the samples that Munster brought back from the Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2026 are not publicly known. The Bundibugyo virus, commonly known as "Ebola," has been circulating in the eastern part of the country since at least April. According to the National Institutes of Health, Munster's field study on Ebola is being conducted in the western part of the country. Journalist saw internal emails Journalist Paul Thacker revealed on his blog, " The Disinformation Chronicle," that Munster had been caught at Detroit airport. He cites internal emails from the US Department of Health and Human Services. "Virologists regularly collect viruses from far-off countries and bring them to their own cities to study them," Thacker wrote. One of these virologists is Vincent Munster. In response to an inquiry from Infosperber, Thacker stated: “Vincent Munster smuggled dangerous human pathogens into the USA. And this despite the fact that we had a Covid pandemic, which was presumably triggered by virus research, and despite the White House working to end dangerous gain-of-function research.” Gain-of-function research involves intentionally making pathogens more dangerous. In his blog, however, Thacker offered a more nuanced perspective: The pathogens, including the monkeypox virus "and potentially other viruses," that Munster had brought with him "could have been inactivated by the reagents and thus no longer infectious." Munster had not responded to several of Thacker's inquiries. The US Department of Health and Human Services referred Thacker to the FBI, which declined to comment. "Will probably go to prison." Vincent Munster will "probably go to jail," ardent Trump supporter and influencer Laura Loomer quoted US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy as saying. Kennedy had informed her of this in writing. Loomer has close ties to the White House. She emphasizes that Munster is a foreigner and claims that the virus researcher had Ebola viruses in his luggage – and then Loomer's speculations run rampant: Did Munster possibly plan a bioterrorist attack? “We know that Vincent Munster hates President Trump. Was he trying to unleash another virus during Donald Trump’s presidency to ruin his term again or blame him for an Ebola outbreak?” the influencer recently speculated on X, alluding to the coronavirus pandemic. Involved in controversial experiments Munster is from the Netherlands. In 2013, he established the Virus Ecology Department at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, which he now heads. The research facility is operated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Its former director, Anthony Fauci, supported gain-of-function research and considered it beneficial. Munster learned his craft, among other things, from virologist Ron Fouchier at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Fouchier caused a storm in 2011 when he created highly dangerous H5N1 influenza viruses in the laboratory ( Infosperber reported on this). He downplayed the risks of such gain-of-function research. Munster was involved in the controversial H5N1 experiments. Zika viruses smuggled – or not? The virology department at Erasmus University is headed by Marion Koopmans, who also works for the WHO. Emails released during a court case revealed that Fouchier, Koopmans, and Munster were in contact with the powerful US scientist and then-presidential advisor Anthony Fauci, at least at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Fouchier was involved behind the scenes in manipulating public opinion to prematurely dismiss the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 could have originated in a laboratory. As a proponent of gain-of-function research, he had no interest in seeing this branch discredited and potentially hampered, or even completely shut down, by regulations. Koopmans has also been accused of illegally smuggling viral material out of the country. "Marion Koopmans told me in the back of a taxi in Geneva that she had smuggled Zika virus out of Brazil in a vial in her trouser pocket," tweeted US scientist Edward Hammond @pricklyresearch in 2021. He has been advocating for greater biosecurity for decades. @MarionKoopmans promptly dismissed his accusations as "bullshit." "Reckless and dishonest" When contacted by @infosperber, Hammond stood by his account. According to Brazilian law on genetic resources and biosafety, such smuggling would have been prohibited. What is permitted during transport is regulated; this information can be found, for example, on the recently updated website of the Swiss Federal Commission for Biological Safety. In the case of Vincent Munster, the "foreigner" who has been conducting research in the US since 2009, Republican Senator Tim Sheehy has now become involved. According to him, it has been confirmed that Munster was temporarily detained at Detroit airport and that the FBI is investigating. Is Munster a scapegoat because the Trump administration has a score to settle with the gain-of-function researchers close to Fauci – or did he actually massively violate the rules? Journalist @thackerpd maintains his position: "Vincent Munster smuggled dangerous human pathogens. Whether they were inactivated or not, we don't know." Thacker states that if he had been allowed to publish the documents he had reviewed, he would have done so. Munster's actions "underline that these virologists don't follow the rules. They have acted recklessly and dishonestly towards the public for far too long." Munster does not deny and remains silent, even when asked by Infosperber. Why didn't Munster obtain permission? “I think the case should at least be investigated,” says virologist and plant geneticist @BioSRP Jonathan Latham, who critically observes the field – and vice versa. He suspects that an Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, which claimed over 11,000 lives, was due to sloppy work in a laboratory. Munster would likely have received permission to transport monkeypox, which is considered less dangerous than Ebola or Bundibugyo. Why, Latham asks, did Munster not obtain this permission? Martina Frei with @infosperber / May 31, 2026 infosperber.ch/wissenschaft/…