Scientists meet in Havana on diplomats’ mystery illnesses

Some scientists who gared Monday for a two-day conference on mysterious illnesses suffered by U.S. and Canian diplomats in Havana said y suspected pesticides as a possible culprit, although results remained inconclusive.

dozens of illnesses reported in recent years led U.S. and Cana to sharply reduce staffing at ir embassies in Cuba. phemen also led to increased tension between Cuba and Trump ministration, which accused Cuba of bearing at least some responsibility for illnesses.

conference entitled “Is re a Havana Syndrome?” brought toger Cuban scientists with researchers from universities in Halifax, Cana, Edinburgh, Scotland, universities of California at Los Angeles and San Diego.

Mitchell Valdés-Sosa, a Cuban neuroscientist, said conference was meant to debate best way of investigating phemen that left dozens of diplomats reporting illnesses including heaches, dizziness and long-term neurological problems. But he said he was alrey sure that what happened was t result of any deliberate action, as U.S. has alleged.

“We believe truth will come out with pass of time,″ he said. ”Obviously, we don’t believe idea that diplomats were attacked.″

Valdés-Sosa said Cuba and Cana h discussed possibility that symptoms were caused by chemicals used to fumigate against mosquitoes.

Or participants in conference said y believed diplomats h suffered some sort of genuine health effects, although causes remained far from clear.

“re is a cluster of reports of people who are sincerely suffering and wher cause is some sort of magical ray-gun or some sort of chemical exposure or is purely psychogenic, that it’s caused through effectively psychiatric causes, we don’t kw,” said Mark Cohen, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA.