While travelling to India with the Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns, an Intelligence officer from the United States experienced symptoms with the Havana syndrome, the CNN and New York Times reported.
According to the CNN report, the unidentified victim had to receive immediate medical attention. CIA spokesperson told Reuters that the agency does not comment on specific incidents or officers.
In September, US Vice President Kamala Harris had delayed her arrival in Hanoi, Vietnam by three hours after the US embassy in the country said that someone had reported symptoms related to the Havana syndrome.
What is Havana Syndrome?
Nearly 200 officials and their family members in the United States have suffered from the so-called Havana syndrome, which is a mysterious set of ailments including nausea, dizziness, migraines and memory lapses. This syndrome was first reported in 2016 by officials stationed at the US embassy in Cuba.
In July, William Burns had appointed a senior officer as the head of a task force to investigate the strange Havana syndrome and causes for the same. The same officer had once led the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Therefore, the most plausible theory is that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy” causes the syndrome, according to the US National academy of Sciences. CIA William Burns has said, there is a very strong possibility that Havana syndrome is intentionally caused and that Russia may be responsible.
Even though several US officials believe the incidents could go back years, even to the Cold War, the most recent spate began at the Havana’s US Embassy, where CIA officers and diplomats reported hearing strange sounds and then feeling headaches and nausea.
This was later followed by a series of incidents at US diplomatic outposts in China leaving many number of US officials badly injured. Since then, Havana syndrome cases have been reported throughout Europe and Asia.
