Havana syndrome: CIA chief team member afflicted during India visit
- In Reports
- 05:38 PM, Sep 21, 2021
- Myind Staff
For the first time, Havana syndrome has been reported in India after a CIA officer reported symptoms similar to the mysterious illness during his visit to New Delhi earlier this month.
The US officer was part of CIA director William Burns' delegation and had to receive medical aid during his stay in India, reports on CNN and NYT said.
The development comes weeks after US Vice-President Kamala Harris's visit to Vietnam was delayed when multiple US personnel reported Havana syndrome symptoms just ahead of her trip last month.
Robert W Baloh, a professor of neurology at UCLA, called it a mass psychogenic (stress-related) condition, BBC reported. Baloh said the situation was similar to the way people feel sick when they are told they have eaten tainted food even if there was nothing wrong with it.
"When you see mass psychogenic illness, there's usually some stressful underlying situation. In the case of Cuba, the embassy employees - particularly the CIA agents who were first affected - were certainly in a stressful situation," BBC quoted Baloh as saying.
Baloh said US embassy officials became "hyper-aware" and "fearful" as reports spread and took every-day symptoms like brain fog and dizziness as being that of Havana syndrome.
First reported in Cuba in late 2016, the mysterious neurological illness has afflicted American spies and diplomats in Russia, China, Austria and several other countries. Five years since being first reported, doctors and scientists are yet to ascertain what causes Havana syndrome. Different theories have done the rounds since then -- from psychological illness to some sort of sonic weapon.
A study by the National Academies of Sciences, commissioned by the US State Department and released in December 2020, examined the symptoms of about 40 government employees. The panel of 19 experts examined four possibilities to explain the symptoms of Havana syndrome — infection, chemicals, psychological factors and microwave energy.
The study concluded that "directed pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases".
Without blaming any country, the study noted that "significant research" had been conducted on microwave weapons in Russia/USSR. Moscow has denied any role in the "attacks".
"Microwave weapons" are a type of direct energy weapon, which aim highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
Image source: The Hindu times
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