The CIA has not found any country behind the "Havana Syndrome" 1:35
(CNN) --
The US intelligence community cannot link any case of the mysterious illness known as Havana syndrome to a foreign enemy, ruling out that the unexplained symptoms are the result of a campaign led by an adversary of Washington, according to US intelligence officials familiar with the assessment.
This conclusion comes years after the so-called Havana syndrome first appeared and refutes the theory that it was the result of a campaign led by an enemy of the United States.
The new assessment is in line with an interim CIA report from last year, which said the "abnormal health incidents," as they are formally known, were unlikely to have been caused by "a sustained global campaign" by Russia or any other figure. foreign.
The CIA assesses that the Havana syndrome is unlikely to be due to a "sustained global campaign" by a foreign country in an interim report
The assessment also goes further by noting that there is no credible evidence that a foreign adversary has a weapon or collection device that is capable of causing the mysterious incidents, the officials said.
The mysterious illness first emerged in late 2016, when a group of diplomats serving in Havana began reporting symptoms consistent with head trauma, including dizziness and extreme headaches.
In subsequent years, cases have been reported worldwide, including clusters of at least 60 incidents in Bogotá, Colombia, and Vienna, Austria.
The assessment draws on the immense resources of the US intelligence community, including a review of hundreds of incidents and a wide range of factors surrounding them, the officials explained.
Some 1,500 cases have been reported across the US government in 96 different counties, including some reported incidents this year, the sources said.
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However, Wednesday's assessment does not provide definitive answers about the cause of the condition that has sickened hundreds of US government personnel and their families around the world.
There is no single explanation for these incidents.
Rather, there are many possible causes, including environmental factors, social factors and pre-existing medical conditions, according to authorities.
What is Havana syndrome and where have cases been reported?
The assessment is likely to cause further frustration among those affected, who have criticized the US government for not taking the disease seriously enough or for delaying the investigation.
"There's something counter-intuitive about all this. If doctors are diagnosing some of us with an line-of-duty qualified brain injury and we don't say it was a foreign adversary, what is it?" said a former CIA agent. who experienced the symptoms.
Intelligence community personnel were notified of the assessment on Wednesday, the officials said.
Those affected were notified in recent days that the assessment was approaching and some received a call from CIA director Bill Burns, a source said.
havana syndrome