Canadian research points to pesticides as possible cause of Havana Syndrome
A new study of Canadian diplomats who were posted to Havana, Cuba points to insecticides used to fight the Zika virus as a possible cause of socalled Havana syndrome.
The research, led by Dr. Alon Friedman of Dalhousie University’s Brain Repair Centre, runs counter to the prevailing theory that acoustic weapons attacks caused the brain damage seen in Canadian and U.S. diplomats who were posted in Havana between 2016 and 2018.
The team led by Friedman found the results of brain scans, blood tests and examinations, including trips to Cuba, point to environmental neurotoxins, the kind that might have been used during an aggressive campaign of spraying to mitigate the Zika virus, which is spread by mosquitos and can cause birth defects. Both the Canadian and Cuban governments were fumigating areas inside and outside where diplomats lived and worked around the time diplomats began having symptoms of Havana syndrome.
In an interview, Friedman said he sent the study to the federal government before it was published because of the urgency of the findings. The report was subsequently leaked and has since been released by Dalhousie University.
“We sent it because we were thinking the government should do something.”
Friedman is planning a joint study with the Cuban government to better understand what the neurotoxin or toxins might be and how they are being used.
Meanwhile, the hypothesis at least provides a potential answer to what has been a long-standing mystery. It also offers a possible solution to the syndrome: Prevent exposure to toxic insecticides. Although there is currently no treatment, Friedman said the people will improve, some more slowly than others. Many have begun to improve.
“We care a lot about these individuals. They were really sick and some of them are still sick. You care and you want to help. Personally, I just hoped that we could help.”
As with earlier research on U.S. diplomats affected by the mysterious concussion-like syndrome, the new study confirms that the diplomats and their families suffered from brain injuries. But the researchers’ theory about what might have caused those injuries is new.
Friedman and his team studied 26 Canadian diplomats and their family members, most of whom had symptoms of socalled Havana syndrome after being posted to Havana. Their symptoms included cognitive impairment, visual and audiovestibular impairment, including tinnitus, sensitivity to sound and feeling off-balance, as well as sleep disturbance, fatigue, headaches and irritability.
Friedman said he met in Ottawa recently with those diplomats to discuss the research findings. Not everyone reacted with relief. Some, he said, found it hard to believe.
“I think the response was very mixed between ‘that might be interesting’ and ‘no, it couldn’t be’.”