2/15/2018

CUBA/FBI/STATE: “A group of American diplomats stationed in Havana appear to have symptoms of concussion without ever having received blows to their heads, medical experts have found.
The diplomats originally were said to have been victims of a ‘sonic attack,’ a possibility that the Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly ruled out in January.
The experts’ report, published late Wednesday [2-14-18] in the journal JAMA, does not solve the mystery, instead raising even more questions about what could have caused the brain injuries.
The incidents occurred in 2016, when 18 of the 21 affected diplomats reported they heard strange sounds in their homes or hotel rooms… All but one reported immediate symptoms: headache, pain in one ear, loss of hearing. Days or weeks later, other symptoms emerged, including memory problems, an inability to concentrate, mood problems, headaches and fatigue.
The State Department asked researchers at the University of Pennsylvania to investigate. Their report confirmed neurological problems in the diplomats, including signs of what appear to be concussions…
Other experts were less convinced, noting inherent weaknesses in such a study despite the expertise of the group conducting it. It would be premature, they said, to conclude there is a mysterious new medical syndrome with an unknown cause.”

-Gina Kolata, “Diplomats in Cuba Suffered Brain Injuries. Experts Still Don’t Know Why.,” The New York Times online, Feb. 15, 2018