HAVANA SYNDROMEU.S. Still Searching for “Havana Syndrome” Answers
The CIA has concluded a mysterious illness plaguing American diplomats and other officials around the world is not nearly as widespread as initially feared and is most likely not the work of a foreign adversary. But the agency also cautioned that a smaller number of cases continue to defy explanation.
The top U.S. spy agency has concluded a mysterious illness plaguing American diplomats and other officials around the world is not nearly as widespread as initially feared and is most likely not the work of a foreign adversary.
But the Central Intelligence Agency also cautioned that a smaller number of cases continue to defy explanation, with one official warning that in those cases, “We have not ruled out the involvement of a foreign actor.”
Since 2016, when it was first reported by diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, hundreds of U.S. personnel have reported getting sick, with symptoms ranging from nausea and dizziness to debilitating headaches and memory problems.
Suspected cases of so-called Havana syndrome were reported in Russia, China, Poland and Austria, and the sickness affected some U.S. officials so badly their careers derailed.
Yet an interim report Thursday by the CIA finds that most of the illnesses, also known as anomalous health incidents, or AHI, are not a mystery at all.
“We assess that the majority of the reported AHI cases can be reasonably explained by medical conditions or environmental and technical factors, including previously undiagnosed illnesses,” a CIA official told VOA on Thursday on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the report.
The official declined to say exactly how many cases the agency investigated, describing the number as “dynamic,” and noted that reports increased dramatically once the government encouraged workers to report any symptoms that could be connected to Havana syndrome.
Various unofficial accounts have put the number anywhere from several hundred to as many as 1,000.
Unsolved Cases
However, there are “a couple of dozen cases” for which there are still no answers, the official said.
“There is a subset of cases, including some of our toughest cases, that remain unresolved,” the official said.
The location of many of the first-reported cases — Havana, Russia and China — gave rise to speculation that Havana syndrome was not so much an illness as it was an effort to harm U.S. diplomats and intelligence personnel.
A 2020 report by the National Academy of Sciences further fueled such concerns, concluding that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining” the growing number of cases.
The CIA interim report, while not ruling out that someone or something may be causing Havana syndrome in the unexplained cases, called the use of a weapon unlikely.
