The agency had initially refused to even review the application but reversed course after a public outcry.

The health secretary is trying to restart the work of a panel that advises the government on vaccines, after a judge froze its decisions and prevented it from meeting.

The virologist was stopped at the Detroit airport after working in Congo during an mpox epidemic. His lawyer said the material was for research.

The Bundibugyo virus, a little known type, previously had caused just two small outbreaks. Now it’s at the center of a rapidly widening epidemic in Africa.

The babies were part of a vaccine trial for a respiratory virus in the 1960s and died shortly after. Their families said they had been unaware of the trial until recently.