The Biden administration is refining a screening tool it developed last year to evaluate the symptoms and injuries of people who experienced the so-called Havana syndrome, as it continues to search for a cause and prepares to compensate federal officials who have been affected.
The next version of the tool — essentially a medical exam with a standardized battery of questions and tests — is likely to include a new section focusing on anxiety and depression. The addition comes as more people have reported psychological symptoms, according to a State Department official familiar with the planning. The officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss elements of the inquiry into the causes of Havana syndrome.
The tool cannot diagnose someone experiencing Havana syndrome, federal officials said, but it can help determine what kind of care the person needs. Although the administration has been trying to improve the tool, it will not be used to determine who qualifies for compensation under the Havana Act, a new law that will provide financial support for affected CIA officers, State Department diplomats and other federal officials.
The “anomalous health incidents,” as the government calls them, started in 2016, when CIA officers and diplomats serving in Havana reported strange sounds and other sensations, then experienced headaches, nausea and dizziness. Since then, US officials around the world have reported similar episodes, with large numbers of cases in Vienna and several locations in China.