What Havana syndrome is like for 3 victims who are still seeking answers

US Embassy in Havana
(Image credit: YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

Three foreign service officials spoke with NBC News about what it's like to be struck with Havana syndrome, how it has affected their lives in recent years, and what they want skeptics to know.

Havana syndrome is a mysterious affliction that researchers have yet to figure out, but has affected as many as 200 U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers, reports NBC. Victims have reported symptoms like vertigo and severe headaches, but the cognitive effects have varied, making the phenomenon even more "confounding." Officials hypothesize that the cases are related to some sort of directed energy, but have so far struggled to prove initial theories that Russia is behind potential microwave energy attacks.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Onufer described feeling "like I was being struck with something" while washing dishes one night in Havana. "Pain that I have never felt before in my life" came on suddenly, she said, "mostly in my head and in my eyes. … It was as if I had been seized by some invisible hand and I couldn't move."

Meanwhile, State Department employees Kate Husband and Doug Ferguson described a "piercing" sound at their home in Havana before Husband was diagnosed with a brain injury that has left her with "multi-layered" cognitive issues. NBC News writes that Husband wants to "push back against the critics who believe their illnesses are the result of mass hysteria," saying, "I mean, I have verified physical injuries." Onufer similarly said to skeptics: "it's very real."

The Biden administration is reportedly ramping up efforts to investigate Havana syndrome, including the possibility that directed energy may be a "weaponized" version of intelligence collection efforts by adversaries. President Biden recently signed the Havana Act to provide more medical care to victims. Read more at NBC News.

Explore More
Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.