× FBI acknowledges for first time that some employees may have Havana Syndrome symptoms
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that at least two FBI employees have reported experiencing symptoms similar to those suffered by other government workers in hospitals over the past month, acknowledging for the first time that some may have contracted a mysterious illness.
Wray gave no further details, but said the FBI was investigating the possible link with the workers at the FBI’s field office in Washington, which received an ear infection about six weeks ago.
“We’re working with government contacts to see if we can isolate this illness, see if we can establish what the cause of the illness is,” Wray said, describing the disease as “understandable, extremely painful and quite perplexing.”
Wray said the FBI was working with government contacts to see if it can isolate this illness, see if we can establish what the cause of the illness is. FBI Director Christopher Wray
The announcement comes two days after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told a House subcommittee that the FBI was assessing whether any employees had been affected.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.
The symptoms apparently caused a temporary loss of hearing. Those affected also began losing muscle tone and balance, according to multiple federal law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation who were not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
As many as 100 government workers suspected of suffering similar symptoms have been seen at a government hospital in North Carolina since Aug. 15. The workers in the federal government health care system represent a small number of those who were diagnosed with symptoms, which include dizziness, balance issues, headaches and nausea.
The U.S. government initially downplayed the scope of the problem, saying it wasn’t clear how many federal workers may have been affected.
Once the scope of the problem was disclosed, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the department was making it clear to government workers to seek medical attention as a precaution. But the intensity of the response and government cooperation with congressional committees has become the subject of mounting criticism from lawmakers.
FBI Agent Steven Martinez said the government is working quickly to determine “where any health risk may be present.” Martinez did not immediately respond to questions about the scope of those investigated or how many are believed to have been affected.
None of the illnesses involving federal workers could be confirmed to be as a result of military exposure. But medical professionals say the common symptom in government workers who have been affected — loss of balance — could be an indication that they have been exposed to loud or low-frequency sound.
“For me the most alarming aspect of the case is the neurological component,” said Dr. Jeffrey S. Pearce, who directs the Division of Neuropsychology at the UC Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, California. “It’s not just the loss of hearing. We know some of them will have some degree of disorientation or even loss of perception, so it’s not just hearing loss.”
While they have been unable to determine the cause of the hearing loss, doctors have noted patients are sensitive to noise.
In the last five years, there have been some cases of acute ear infections in federal government employees in Washington, including some with mild hearing loss and others with severe ones, officials said.
Wray said the FBI was working with government contacts to see if it can isolate this illness, see if we can establish what the cause of the illness is. FBI Director Christopher Wray
Martinez, the FBI agent, did not immediately respond to questions about any specific ailments, but described those who reported symptoms as suffering “terrible” and being called out of work on a very short notice.
“It’s really devastating,” Martinez said. “We’re working hard to try to find the cause of this.”
After almost three decades working for the FBI, Martinez is an experienced agent, one of 10 FBI agents on the Diplomatic Security Service who investigated the 1993 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Martinez said the FBI was working closely with colleagues in other federal agencies and international organizations who may have been affected.
“People are motivated to try to find out what’s going on,” he said.