‘BIOSECURITY RISK’: FBI REPORT DESCRIBES CHINESE SCIENTISTS WHO SMUGGLED SARS, MERS, H1N1 VIRUSES IN LUGGAGE
One incident occurred as recently as September 2019
IMAGE CREDITS: JAROMIR CHALABALA / EYEEM VIA GETTY IMAGES.
A report by the FBI details incidents from 2018 and 2019 where Chinese scientists were caught bringing undeclared and unofficially labeled viruses and flu strains into the U.S.
In September 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Detroit Metro Airport stopped a Chinese biologist with three vials labeled “Antibodies” in his luggage.
The biologist told the agents that he was tasked with delivering the vials to a researcher at a U.S. institute, but examining the vials, customs agents came to a shocking realization.
“Inspection of the writing on the vials and the stated recipient led inspection personnel to believe the materials contained within the vials may be viable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) materials,” says the unclassified FBI report.
The report by the Chemical and Biological Intelligence Unit of the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD) does not reveal the name of the Chinese scientist carrying the deadly samples, or the intended recipient in the U.S., but concludes that the incident is part of a disturbing pattern.
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