Pesticides likely caused 'Havana syndrome' that affected Cuba-based diplomats

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/aabu-plc100319.php

News Release 3-Oct-2019
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

A new interdisciplinary study on the "Havana Syndrome" led by Dr. Alon Friedman M.D. of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel and Dalhousie University Brain Repair Center in Nova Scotia, Canada, points to overexposure to pesticides as a likely cause for neurological symptoms among Canadian diplomats residing in Havana, Cuba in 2016. This is the first study of its kind focused on Canadian diplomats.

The "Havana Syndrome" was the name given to the symptoms initially believed to be acoustic attacks on U.S. and Canadian embassy staff, first reported in Cuba. Beginning in August 2017, reports surfaced that American and Canadian diplomatic personnel in Cuba had suffered a variety of health problems including headaches and loss of balance, as well as sleep, concentration, and memory difficulties.

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"We were also able to test several of the subjects before and after they returned from Cuba," Dr. Friedman says. "Our team saw changes in the brain that definitely occurred during the time they were in Havana."

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