This article originally appeared onThe Defenderand was republished with permission.
Guest post byMichael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
A virologist linked toDr. Anthony Fauciis facing an FBI criminal investigation for allegedlysmuggling unsecured samples of dangerous pathogensinto the U.S. earlier this year, The Disinformation Chronicle first reported Tuesday.
Earlier this year,Vincent Munster, Ph.D., a virologist with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with NIH scientistClaude Kwe Yinda, Ph.D., When they returned to the U.S., they were stopped for an airport security check, which revealed “pathogen samples collected from patients.”
The Disinformation Chronicle reported that the samples included monkeypox virus — classified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a “select agent,” or organism that poses a severe threat to public safety.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, located in sub-Saharan Africa, is widely considered theglobal epicenter of monkeypox.
TheU.S. Department of Transportationregulates the shipment and transport of pathogens. Munster and Yinda did not have the legally required paperwork to transport the pathogens or bring them into the U.S.
The NIH has placed the two scientists on leave, and they have been removed fromHHS’ staff directory.
The FBI’s investigation into Munster and Yinda comes amid a flurry of activity involving virologists linked to Fauci and controversialgain-of-function research. Evidence suggests that researchers may have created SARS-CoV-2 in a lab and that the virus escaped the lab, leading to theCOVID-19pandemic.
Last week, a grand juryindicted Dr. David Morens, a former top aide to Fauci, for conspiracy to hide government records on COVID-19’s origins. The NIH reportedly pulled all grants issued tovirologist Ralph Baric, Ph.D., who worked with Fauci and researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology before and during the pandemic.
Source: The Vigilant Fox
