Havana syndrome is a combination of medical signs and symptoms described by embassy employees from the United States and Canada in Cuba.
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| [Havana Syndrome ] |
The Havana syndrome isn’t a new problem for U.S. diplomats but the recent spike in case numbers is very concerning phenomena for diplomacy.
As many as 200 Americans have come forward to identify suspected signs of directed energy attacks, as part of a surge of new reports detailing new events throughout the world, primarily in Vienna and Berlin.
According to US officials and others briefed on the subject, a recent and previously undisclosed event in Berlin cut short at least one diplomat's stay in Germany.
"It's worldwide," another source briefed on recent occurrences said this month, "but there appears to be an awful lot going on in Europe."
Austria is the most recent country to have had occurrences. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the National Security Council is supervising a government-wide investigation "to see whether there may be previously unreported instances that fit a wider pattern" and "whether they represent an assault of some type by a foreign actor."
An intelligence official told ABC News that the US intelligence community has formed a new panel of specialists that includes senior officers as well as independent medical and scientific experts to study the "anomalous health occurrences" that have affected scores of US employees throughout the world.
The Havana syndrome is a combination of medical indications and symptoms that have been reported by US and Canadian embassy personnel in Cuba since late 2016, as well as in other nations, including the US.
Some witnesses said they heard a tremendous boom, similar to the one heard in Havana, and then felt nauseated, dizzy, confused, and disoriented. It generally occurred in people's homes, and some claim that it affected their ability to move their bodies thereafter.
Donald Trump accused Cuba of carrying out unnamed assaults that caused similar symptoms in 2017, but he was unable to produce any substantial evidence or details. In reaction, the United States decreased the number of people working at their embassy to a bare minimum.