据美国广播公司新闻证实,一位熟悉病例的消息人士称,哥伦比亚波哥大大使馆的“少数”美国人员报告了与“哈瓦那综合征”一致的症状。
哥伦比亚外交部上周宣布,哥伦比亚现在是美国官员报告神秘神经疾病事件的最新国家,这种疾病困扰美国政府多年,但这些报告特别引人注目,因为国务卿安东尼·布林肯本月将前往波哥大。
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哥伦比亚副总统兼外交部长玛尔塔·露西亚·拉米雷斯·德林孔会见才子...
在8月份的一次类似事件中,美国驻越南使团的一名工作人员报告了一个未经证实的“哈瓦那综合症”病例,随后副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的越南之行被推迟了几个小时。
美国外交官、间谍和其他官员现在已经在几个国家报告了奇怪的经历和衰弱症状,从2016年底的古巴开始,扩展到中国、俄罗斯、乌兹别克斯坦、德国、奥地利和其他地方。
症状包括头痛、头晕、认知困难、耳鸣、眩晕以及视觉、听觉或平衡障碍。许多官员在报告事件数年后出现症状,而一些官员被诊断患有创伤性脑损伤。
目前还不清楚有多少美国官员已经确认了医疗症状。
据《华尔街日报》获得的驻美国大使菲利普·戈德堡(Philip Goldberg)的一封电子邮件称,美国驻波哥大大使馆的领导层向工作人员通报了所报告的事件,称他们正在调查这些案件,并“严肃、客观、敏感地”处理这些案件首先报道了这个消息。消息人士向美国广播公司证实,戈德堡一直在与员工沟通,但拒绝分享这些电子邮件。
美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯(Ned Price)周二在国务院简报会上拒绝就该报告置评,他说,该机构正在努力确保所有受影响的人员“以任何形式获得他们需要的及时护理”,并保护其在世界各地的工作人员。
当被问及政府为何不更积极主动时,普莱斯表示,官员们必须尊重个人隐私,并补充道,“我们当然不会忽视这一点。我们只是不跟媒体说话,而是跟我们的员工说话。”
普莱斯也拒绝证实布林肯正在前往哥伦比亚。哥伦比亚外交部宣布,他将于10月20日访问该国,与外交部长兼第一副总统玛尔塔·卢卡·拉米雷斯进行高级别对话,此前两人上周在巴黎经济合作与发展组织(OECD)国家峰会期间会面。
US investigating reported cases of 'Havana syndrome' in Colombia ahead of Blinken visit
A "few" U.S. personnel at the embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, have reported symptoms consistent with "Havana syndrome," a source familiar with the cases confirmed to ABC News.
Colombia is now the latest country where American officials have reported incidents of the mysterious neurological affliction that has confounded the U.S. government for years now, but the reports are particularly notable because Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Bogotá this month, the Colombian Foreign Ministry announced last week.
In a similar episode in August, Vice President Kamala Harris's trip to Vietnam was delayed for a few hours after an unconfirmed case of "Havana syndrome" was reported by a staffer at the U.S. mission there.
American diplomats, spies and other officials have reported strange experiences and debilitating symptoms in several countries now, starting with Cuba in late 2016 and expanding to China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Germany, Austria and elsewhere.
Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, cognitive difficulties, tinnitus, vertigo and trouble with seeing, hearing or balancing. Many officials have suffered symptoms years after reporting an incident, while some have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.
It's unclear how many U.S. officials have confirmed medical symptoms.
Leadership at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá informed staff of the reported incidents, saying they are investigating the cases and addressing them "seriously, with objectivity and with sensitivity," according to an email from Ambassador Philip Goldberg obtained by the Wall Street Journal, whichfirst reported the news. The source confirmed to ABC News that Goldberg has been in communication with staff, but declined to share the emails.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price declined to comment on the report Tuesday during a department briefing, saying instead the agency is working to ensure all affected personnel get "the prompt care they need in whatever form that takes" and to protect its work force around the world.
Pressed on why the administration wasn't being more forthcoming, Price said officials had to respect personnel privacy, adding, "It's certainly not the case that we are ignoring this. We are just not speaking to the press -- we're speaking to our workforce."
Price also declined to confirm that Blinken is traveling to Colombia. Colombia's Foreign Ministry announced he would visit for a high-level dialogue on Oct. 20 with Foreign Minister and First Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez after the two met last week in Paris on the sidelines of the summit of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.