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| Antony Blinken (file image) said the US was working "overtime" to solve the mystery. (Photo by= Reuters) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Four more US diplomats working in Geneva and Paris have fallen ill with a suspected neurological illness known as "Havana syndrome", US media report, BBC said. Three diplomats became sick in the Swiss city and one in the French capital last summer, with some 200 people affected over five years. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the American government was working to get to the bottom of the mystery. There are fears an adversary may have targeted diplomats with microwaves. Mr Blinken said the issue had been raised with Russia but no determination had been made.
Havana syndrome first emerged in Cuba in 2016 and has affected US diplomats, spies, officials and family members, as well as a number of Canadian diplomatic staff deployed in Cuba. Some of the people who experienced the syndrome were left with dizziness and fatigue for months.
The latest cases include one person who was evacuated from Switzerland to the US for treatment, media reports say. Mr Blinken told MSNBC in an interview that he had met state department employees around the world who had described their illnesses and how their lives had been disrupted. People, he said, had been "directly and powerfully affected".
