Havana syndrome sees uptick in cases, concerns, and questions

I fear, I am already afflicted by this syndrome. This is my third blog post about it! 😉

"... Known as Havana syndrome, today there are at least 200 CIA, State Department, and Pentagon personnel stationed overseas who have been affected. (President Biden signed a bill on Friday providing financial help to victims.) Intelligence agencies have been unable to determine what’s behind the incidents, although some officials believe they are the result of attacks by a U.S. adversary. ...
The most recent victims include a U.S. diplomat in Serbia who was evacuated by the CIA last month, according to a Wall Street Journal report, and an aide traveling with CIA Director William Burns in India who developed symptoms. In August, Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Vietnam was delayed after two officials at the U.S. embassy in Hanoi became ill. The CIA replaced its Vienna station chief for failing to adequately respond to reports of Havana syndrome-like symptoms by two dozen intelligence officers and diplomats this summer. Police in Vienna are investigating the incidents. ...
The cause of these illnesses has not been identified, but one theory is high-intensity microwaves may be to blame. Russia has a well-documented history dating back to Josef Stalin of using microwaves against the U.S. to disrupt intelligence operations. An assessment of Havana embassy victims by the National Academies of Science in 2020 said “directed, pulsed Radio Frequency energy” was the “most plausible” primary source of those injuries. Private companies sell weapons systems that use directed energy to knock out drones. ...
Still experiencing debilitating symptoms with no relief in sight, Polymeropoulos retired in 2019. Frustrated by the CIA’s inaction, he took his story public last year. In January he was admitted to the traumatic brain injury program at Walter Reed National Intrepid Center of Excellence, where he was diagnosed with occipital neuralgia. Traumatic brain injury is now the most common diagnosis, said Polymeropoulos, who has spoken to many other victims. ...
The attacks fit the Russian government’s penchant for outlandish acts of aggression on foreign soil, including the 2006 poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian Federal Security Service officer, with a radioactive isotope; the 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England with a military nerve agent; and the 2019 shooting death of a Chechen separatist at a Berlin park in broad daylight ..."

Havana syndrome sees uptick in cases, concerns, and questions – Harvard Gazette But cause, suspects unclear as scores of U.S. spies, diplomats, security staff hit by mysterious neurological injuries overseas. In September 2017, following months of mysterious health ailments at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, more than half of the U.S. diplomatic corps was ordered home. A recent flurry of cases overseas has created new concerns.

New Report Assesses Illnesses Among U.S. Government Personnel and Their Families at Overseas Embassies

Havana Syndrome Attacks Widen With CIA Officer’s Evacuation From Serbia

What is going on? It affects even under cover/covert CIA agents? Sounds serious! 

Over the decades, during the Cold War, there have been recurring stories or reports about mysterious illnesses affecting overseas Western diplomatic staff (in particular from Havana, Cuba), but these were usually isolated incidents and without systematic patterns etc..

"The incident in the Balkans is the latest in what officials describe as a steady expansion of attacks on American spies and diplomats posted overseas by unknown assailants. Government officials and scientists suspect that some sort of directed-energy source is involved."

"The CIA evacuated an intelligence officer serving in Serbia in recent weeks who suffered serious injuries consistent with the neurological attacks known as Havana Syndrome, according to current and former U.S. officials. ..."

"... Havana syndrome first emerged in Cuba in 2016. The first cases were CIA officers, which meant they were kept secret. But, eventually, word got out and anxiety spread. Twenty-six personnel and family members would report a wide variety of symptoms. ...

Five years on, reports now number in the hundreds and ... span every continent, leaving a real impact on the US's ability to operate overseas. ..."

"Havana syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms reported by United States and Canadian embassy staff first in Havana, Cuba, dating to late 2016, and subsequently in other countries. The U.S. Department of State has referred to the events as "unexplained health incidents" or UHIs while the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has publicly referred to the events as attacks.

In 2018, U.S. diplomats in China reported problems similar to those reported in Cuba, as did undercover CIA agents working in other countries with partner agencies on missions aimed at countering Russian covert operations. ..."

Havana Syndrome Attacks Widen With CIA Officer’s Evacuation From Serbia - WSJ U.S. officials say the still-unexplained assaults are steadily expanding and sapping morale at the CIA and State Department

‘Havana syndrome ’ and the mystery of the microwaves Doctors, scientists, intelligence agents and government officials have all been trying to find out what causes "Havana syndrome" - a mysterious illness that has struck American diplomats and spies. Some call it an act of war, others wonder if it is some new and secret form of surveillance - and some people believe it could even be all in the mind. So who or what is responsible?

Havana syndrome Wikipedia

Havanna-Syndrom: Mysteriöse Diplomaten Erkrankung von Mikrowellen ausgelöst

Wie eine Mad Magazin Episode von Spy v. Spy! Die Frage ist, was ist dran?

Diese Geschichte scheint nicht ganz neu zu sein laut Wikipedia. Es begann wohl Ende 2016.

"Seit 2016 sind rund 40 Botschaftsmitarbeiter und Familienangehörige aus den USA und Kanada in Kuba, China und Russland an mysteriösen Beschwerden erkrankt: Sie hörten laute Geräusche und erlitten Schwindelanfälle, Kopfschmerzen und Sehstörungen. Auch Gedächtnisverlust und andere Symptome traten dabei auf. Manche gesundeten schnell, andere mussten vorzeitig in den Ruhestand versetzt werden. Weil die Erkrankungen zuerst in Kuba auftraten, werden sie als «Havanna-Syndrom» bezeichnet. Doch das ist das Einzige, das klar ist. ..."

"Subsequent studies of the affected diplomats in Cuba, published in the journal JAMA in 2018, found evidence that the diplomats experienced some form of brain injury, but did not determine the cause of the injuries.[8][9] A co-author of the JAMA study considered microwave weapons to be "a main suspect" for the phenomenon.[10]

In December 2020, a study by an expert committee of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, commissioned by the State Department, released its report, concluding that "directed" microwave radiation was the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China."

Havanna-Syndrom: Mysteriöse Erkrankung von Mikrowellen ausgelöst (behind paywall) Eine neue Studie kann immer noch nicht alle Fragen beantworten, warum amerikanische Diplomaten und Spione in Kuba, China und Russland erkrankten. Die wahrscheinlichste These: eine gezielte Attacke mit gepulster Energie von Radiofrequenzen. Der wahrscheinlichste Täter: Moskau.

An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies (2020 report by the National Academy of Sciences)