Pentagon confirms Defense official exhibited ‘Havana syndrome’ symptoms at NATO summit

The Department of Defense said on Monday that a senior official displayed symptoms of the mysterious illness known as “Havana syndrome” at a NATO summit last year, a day after a joint media investigation found evidence that Russia is likely behind the attacks, contradictory to the findings of the U.S. intelligence community.

“Havana syndrome” is the name given to a mysterious neurological condition that a small group of American diplomats and spies overseas have reported since 2016. U.S. diplomats and members of the intelligence community in different locations reported symptoms including dizziness, head pain, vision problems, cognitive troubles, vertigo, and possibly traumatic brain injuries beginning at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba in 2016.

An unnamed senior Department of Defense official who attended last year’s NATO summit showed signs of “Havana syndrome,” Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday. The official was not a part of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s delegation that traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania.

“The Intelligence Community has much work to do to get to the bottom of who and what are behind the events that have harmed, and in some cases permanently disabled, our diplomats, their relatives, as well as intelligence personnel in numerous locations across the globe,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “The Senate Intelligence Committee continues to conduct oversight of the IC’s work on determining what is behind Havana syndrome and AHIs. We also remain committed to ensuring those who have suffered receive proper care and benefits.”

Federal public health officials have continued to refer to these sets of symptoms as anomalous health incidents, or AHIs.

Last year, a highly anticipated intelligence community review found it’s “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for some sort of directed energy attack that led to the symptoms people experienced.

CBS’s 60 Minutes, in a joint investigation with the Insider and Der Spiegel, reported on Sunday possible links between a Russian military intelligence unit and the attacks. Their report first broke the news that a senior DOD official seemingly got Havana syndrome during the NATO summit last year, which Singh confirmed.

The State Department stood behind the intelligence community’s assessment that it’s unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible for the mysterious illness.

“It has been the broad conclusion of the intelligence community since March 2023 that it is unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible for these anomalous health incidents,” spokesman Matthew Miller said. “It’s something that the intelligence community has investigated extensively and continues to look at. We will look at new information as it comes in and make assessments inside the State Department and with our intelligence community.”

A House Intelligence Committee spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) is “aware” of the new reporting and “will make appropriate inquiries with the Intelligence Community based on the information presented publicly.”

“Since the earliest reports, the Committee has been focused on ensuring that those who experience AHIs receive all the care and support they need,” the spokesperson continued. “We will continue to oversee this important issue.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted the intelligence community’s previous findings during Monday’s briefing and added, “We’re going to continue to do a comprehensive examination of the effects here that we’re seeing and the potential causes of AHI. That’s something that we’re going to continue to look into.”

In March, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center published the findings of a five-year-long research project that evaluated more than 80 government employees and their families who had experienced the symptoms associated with Havana syndrome.

Although federal researchers acknowledged the severity of their subjects’ symptoms in the report, published in JAMA, they reported that the patients as a whole demonstrated no MRI-detectable brain changes that could be the biological cause of the AHIs.

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“While we did not identify significant differences in participants with AHIs, it’s important to acknowledge that these symptoms are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can be quite prolonged, disabling and difficult to treat,” said Leighton Chan, chief of rehabilitation medicine and acting chief scientific officer of the NIH Clinical Center and lead author on one of the papers.

The NIH did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.