• By Abhirupa Kundu
  • Tue, 02 Apr 2024 03:34 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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The mysterious "Havana syndrome" ailment was claimed to have afflicted United States' top diplomats during the 2023 NATO summit, the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday. This comes after the illness which causes unexplained headaches, ear aches and dizziness was reported among US officials, envoys and spies globally. The Havana syndrome has been suspected to have links with Russian military intelligence, however, the Kremlin has dismissed the joint media investigation which reported about the connection and found that the Russian unit known as 29155 had been placed at the scene of reported health incidents involving US personnel.

Terming the reports "baseless", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "This is not a new topic at all; for many years the topic of the so-called 'Havana Syndrome' has been exaggerated in the press, and from the very beginning it was linked to accusations against the Russian side. But no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these unfounded accusations anywhere. Therefore, all this is nothing more than baseless, unfounded accusations by the media."

A senior defense department official who attended last year's NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania, had symptoms similar to those reported by US officials who have experienced “Havana syndrome," the Pentagon said. The Pentagon's health care system has established a registry for employees or dependents to report such incidents.

What Is The Havana Syndrome?

Havana Syndrome, which is still under investigation refers to a string of unexplained issues that caused head pressure, ear aches and dizziness. Symptoms of the ailment have included migraines, nausea, memory lapses and mental health issues.

It comprises an array of health problems dating back to 2016 when officials working at the US Embassy in Havana reported experiencing symptoms of the disease.

The disease traces its roots to Cuba and surfaced a year after the US opened its embassy in Havana after the ties between the two countries were normalised in 2015.

US On The 'Havana Syndrome'

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that official was not a part of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's delegation and referred questions to the intelligence community on the broader issue.

The Office of the Director for National Intelligence pointed to the 2024 Annual Threat Assessment that said the US intelligence community continues "to closely examine" so-called Anomalous Health Incidents but noted that most agencies concluded that it "is very unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible."

In February the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its 2024 threat assessment found that it was “unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for causing the mysterious ailments but noted that US intelligence agencies had varying levels of confidence in that assessment.
The Pentagon's health care system has established a registry for employees or dependents to report such incidents.

In March, however, a five-year study by the National Institutes of Health found no brain injuries or degeneration among US diplomats and other government employees who had Havana syndrome symptoms.