Monkeypox strain intercepted by CBP at Detroit border | Fox 10 Talks | FOX 10 Phoenix

Federal investigators successfully neutralized a hostage situation at a bank in Bakersfield, California, resulting in the safe release of all 10 hostages. The suspect, a 41-year-old man seeking notoriety, was shot and killed by the FBI after law enforcement determined there was an immediate threat to the lives of the hostages. Multiple improvised explosive devices were discovered at the scene, which bomb technicians evaluated and concluded were inert or not plausible. In a separate incident, two National Institutes of Health employees were caught in Detroit, Michigan, allegedly trying to smuggle in samples of the monkeypox virus from a foreign country. The individuals, identified as a 53-year-old from the Netherlands named Vincent Munster and a 38-year-old from Cameroon, work for the Rocky Mountain Laboratory. Customs and Border Protection officers detected the samples inside a black plastic case that the researchers originally claimed was for diagnostic or testing equipment. Subsequent testing by the FBI revealed that the container held a rare strain of the monkeypox virus originating from the Congo. Munster, who serves as one of the chiefs of virology ecology at the highly secure facility, bypassed standard procedures required for transporting dangerous samples from abroad. Customs and Border Protection officers collaborated with the FBI to intercept the bio-contagion threat and pull it off for testing, preventing the unauthorized materials from reaching the laboratory.