Havana Syndrome: Austrian authorities investigate illness in US diplomats in Vienna

Austrian authorities said they were investigating reports that US diplomats in Vienna have experienced symptoms of a mystery illness known as Havana Syndrome. In a statement released on Sunday, the country’s Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs said that they take the reports very “seriously” and according to their role as the host state, they have been working on the US authorities to find a “joint solution.” In the same statement, the ministry added that the “security” of the diplomats dispatched to Austria and their families was their utmost priority.

What did the US say?

Replying to the report, a US State Department spokesperson said, "In coordination with our partners across the US Government, we are vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents among the US Embassy Vienna community or wherever they are reported."

What is the Havana Syndrome?

The initial wave of the “mysterious energy disease" began in 2016 and affected US personnel including diplomats, CIA agents and troops in Cuba, China and Russia, according to CNN. Since then, the Federal agencies in the US have been struggling to find a cause or reason behind the symptoms including vertigo, headaches, nausea and sometimes a “piercing directional noise." While these symptoms already sound disturbing, many people who contract the Havana syndrome witness lingering symptoms including traumatic brain injury and have been forced to retire from services.

Earlier in May, at least two officials on the National Security Council were attacked on the south side of the White House, reporting absurd sensory experiences and illness symptoms, as it remains for the US Intelligence Community to determine who has been behind these "mystery energy attacks".

Earlier this year, the US Senate Intelligence Committee leaders had vowed to get to the bottom of strange illness-causing energy-directed attacks, adding that the Biden administration had been briefed about the reoccurring incidents. “For nearly five years, we have been aware of reports of mysterious attacks on United States Government personnel in Havana, Cuba and around the world," Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a joint statement." This pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing. The Senate Intelligence Committee intends to get to the bottom of this," the statement continued.

Image: AP