State Department: At least 16 Americans affected by incidents in Havana

At least 16 Americans experienced symptoms as a result of a mysterious incident that affected personnel serving at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the State Department said Thursday.

“We can confirm that at least 16 U.S. government employees, members of our embassy community, have experienced some kind of symptoms,” Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the agency, told reporters at a press briefing. “They have been provided medical treatment in the United States, as well as in Cuba.”

.@statedeptspox: We can now confirm that at least 16 USG employees were affected by attacks in #Cuba pic.twitter.com/UEy1PJ7bXt

— Department of State (@StateDept) August 24, 2017

Upon further questioning, Nauert clarified that she was not able to immediately confirm if all the Americans affected by the incidents were government employees, or if the number also included spouses and other family members.

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U.S. diplomats at the embassy began reporting unexplained hearing loss last fall, prompting the U.S. to launch an investigation into the matter.

Some of the diplomats had been so severely affected that they were forced to leave their posts in Havana and return to the U.S. Others are still in Cuba, according to Nauert. 

Following an investigation, U.S. officials blamed the symptoms on a covert sonic device planted either in or near the diplomats’ residences, The Associated Press reported earlier this month. 

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that some of the impacted U.S. and Canadian diplomats had experienced mild traumatic brain injury and possible damage to the central nervous system.

Nauert said Thursday that she was not aware of any device that had been found but noted that U.S. officials in Havana were no longer experiencing the incidents. 

The U.S. retaliated against Cuba in May by expelling two Cuban diplomats from the country’s embassy in Washington. Nauert said Thursday, however, that U.S. officials do not know who was behind the incidents and that it is too early to point fingers.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry has denied any wrongdoing on its part and is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

“The Ministry categorically emphasizes that Cuba has never, nor would it ever, allow that the Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic agents or their families, without exception,” the ministry said in a statement earlier this month. 

The U.S. Embassy in Havana was reopened in 2015 as part of former President Barack Obama’s efforts to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba.