Tweet
News > Neurology Mysterious Illness Affecting 24 Americans in Cuba: What We Know
Aude Lecrubier
December 14, 2017
From late 2016 to August 2017, more than 20 American and Canadian diplomats on assignment in Cuba, as well as some of their family members, developed sometimes serious neurologic problems after hearing sounds of unknown origin, according to US authorities. Some of the observed symptoms mentioned by the US Department of State were hearing loss, vertigo, headaches, and cognitive, balance, and sleep problems. In late September of this year, the Department of State therefore decided to repatriate more than half of its Havana embassy staff, suspended the granting of routine US visas for Cuba, and called on all US nationals to avoid going to the island.
Since then, the patients' symptoms and their possible causes have been closely examined, but the cause is still unknown. The authorities just revealed that abnormalities were observed in the white matter of the victims' brains, although they did not indicate how many of the victims experienced these changes.
This new information, which was reported by Associated Press journalist Josh Lederman, shows that whatever the cause of the neurologic problems, physical injury to the brain had indeed occurred, according to US authorities....
Aude Lecrubier
December 14, 2017
From late 2016 to August 2017, more than 20 American and Canadian diplomats on assignment in Cuba, as well as some of their family members, developed sometimes serious neurologic problems after hearing sounds of unknown origin, according to US authorities. Some of the observed symptoms mentioned by the US Department of State were hearing loss, vertigo, headaches, and cognitive, balance, and sleep problems. In late September of this year, the Department of State therefore decided to repatriate more than half of its Havana embassy staff, suspended the granting of routine US visas for Cuba, and called on all US nationals to avoid going to the island.
Since then, the patients' symptoms and their possible causes have been closely examined, but the cause is still unknown. The authorities just revealed that abnormalities were observed in the white matter of the victims' brains, although they did not indicate how many of the victims experienced these changes.
This new information, which was reported by Associated Press journalist Josh Lederman, shows that whatever the cause of the neurologic problems, physical injury to the brain had indeed occurred, according to US authorities....