In 2021, four US diplomats serving in European missions appeared to have been afflicted with the mysterious neurological ailment dubbed the Havana Syndrome, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that three of the diplomats were stationed at the US’ Geneva mission in Switzerland, and the other employee worked as part of the US mission in Paris, France. At least one person from the Geneva team was reportedly evacuated to the US to receive medical treatment there.
The US State Department has not commented on the WSJ report, which is the latest case in a series since late 2016, when media outlets first mentioned what Washington describes as an “anomalous health incident”.
At the time, this was the phrase used by the State Department to describe the Havana Syndrome that was first mentioned by US embassy workers in Cuba before it spread to affect about 200 American officials around the Earth, including China, Russia, Austria and several African countries.
The diplomats said they experienced piercing sounds that have caused longer-term health effects, including nausea, dizziness, tinnitus and brain fog.
The US government initially blamed Russia for the alleged acoustic attacks, but Moscow dismissed the allegations as groundless and absurd.
In November 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration was “intently focused” on resolving the Havana Syndrome incidents, arguing that they had inflicted serious physical and physiological harm since they were first reported more than five years ago.
This followed a scientific review commissioned by the State Department and written by the independent science advisory group JASON claiming that Havana Syndrome was most probably caused by insects rather than microwave weapons as initially supposed.
“We believe the recorded sounds are mechanical or biological in origin, rather than electronic. The most likely source is the Indies short-tailed cricket,” the declassified survey asserted.