Explained: What is Havana Syndrome? 

Of late, US Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to Vietnam was delayed by three hours due to a recent possible anomalous health incident in Hanoi. The Anomalous Health Incident or AHI was in reference to Havana Syndrome. VP Kamala Harris later flew to Hanoi as part of her scheduled trip across Asia. 

The New Yorker magazine reported dozens of cases of Havana syndrome among the US officials stationed in Vienna, Austria since the beginning of 2021. The actual number, however, was not made public for security reasons.

It further reported the US Government's hypothesis that the agents of G.U. (Russian Military Agency) have been aiming microwave-radiation devices at US diplomats to collect intelligence from their computers and cell phones, thereby causing serious harm to the targeted people.

What is Havana Syndrome? 

Over the years, several US and Canadian officials deployed in Cuba have experienced a set of medical signs and symptoms which are unofficially called the Havana Syndrome. 

Symptoms

The people who are down with the syndrome have reported symptoms of severe headaches, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, insomnia, and hearing loss. 

While the symptoms have resolved for some of the affected individuals, for others, they have posed a significant obstacle to the work and affected the normal functioning of their lives.

History of Havana Syndrome

In 2016, several US diplomats and other employees stationed in Cuba's capital, Havana, reported falling ill after hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations in their hotel rooms or homes.

Since then, more than 200 US officials have fallen sick with Havana syndrome, according to United States CIA Director William Burns. In addition to the above, several Canadian diplomats have reported similar symptoms in Havana, the capital of Cuba.

It is worth mentioning that Cuba has denied any knowledge of the illness.  

Why is it called Havana syndrome?

The syndrome was named after the Cuban capital post the expulsion of 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington and pulling out of US diplomats from Havana by the Trump administration. 

The US Government accused Cuba of perpetrating the attacks and reduced the staff to the embassy to a minimum. In turn, the Cuban Foreign Minister denied any involvement and accused the US of lying about the incident. 

National Academies of Sciences (NAS) on Havana Syndrome

In 2020, a report titled “An assessment of illness in US government employees and their families at overseas embassies” was published by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS). 

The committee of 19 experts in medicine and other fields examined the symptoms of about 40 government employees and concluded that directed microwave radiation is the plausible cause of Havana Syndrome that the US diplomats stationed in Cuba, China and other countries suffer. 

The report does not mention whether the directed pulsed radiofrequency energy was delivered intentionally or not. It did not quote a source but mentioned that significant research was conducted on microwave weapons in Russia/USSR.

It further mentioned that the immediate symptoms that patients reported apparently emanated from a particular direction, or specific spot in a room and warned about the possibility of future episodes and recommended for a response mechanism for similar incidents by the US State Department. 

It is interesting to note that neither the US State Department nor the FBI has quoted 'microwave weapons' as the probable cause of the Havana syndrome. 

Microwave weapons

These are believed to be a type of direct energy weapons aiming highly focussed energy in the form of sonar, laser or microwaves at targets. People exposed to these have reported a clicking or buzzing sound as if seeming to be coming from within their heads. Microwave weapons have both acute and long-term effects and leave no signs of physical damage.

These weapons have been developed by a number of countries to target both humans and electronic systems. For instance, China displayed its microwave weapon, Poly WB-1, at an air show in 2014. A prototype microwave-style weapon, “Active Denial System”, developed by the US is the first non-lethal, directed-energy, counter-personnel system with a range greater than currently fielded non-lethal weapons.

India has also announced its plans to develop Directed Energy Weapons using high-energy lasers and microwaves.

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