U.S. diplomats in Paris and Geneva are suspected of having been afflicted with the mysterious Havana Syndrome, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.
The newspaper noted that at least one person has been sent back to the U.S. for treatment. The suspected attacks were reported internally last summer to officials at the posts in the two European cities and to the State Department.
The neurological ailment leaves people with headaches, dizziness, and memory loss. Experts studying the illness are still struggling to find evidence to back up the leading theory that microwave attacks are being launched by Russian agents.
In Geneva, at least three Americans serving at the consulate were suspected of being struck with the syndrome. And senior officials in Paris informed diplomats by email of a suspected case, the Journal noted.
The newspaper said the cases are just the latest of a series of suspected cases. Cases have also been reported in Austria, Serbia. and Germany. The Journal also reported nearly half a dozen recent cases at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.
The Journal noted as many as 200 others stationed in China, South America, and Europe are suspected of having been struck by the syndrome.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday was asked what the U.S. is doing to combat the suspected attacks on the diplomats.
“We are working overtime across the entire government to get to the bottom of what happened, who’s responsible … and, in the meantime, to make sure that we’re caring for anyone who has been affected and to protect all of our people to the best of our ability,” he said.
“We’ve got the intelligence community, we have the Defense Department, we have the state department, [and] our scientists all trying to get to the bottom of this.
“To date we don’t know exactly what’s happened and we don’t know exactly who is responsible. Our determination is to do everything we can to get to the bottom of this.”
