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A sharp sound. Body numbness. Difficulty speaking. Extreme head pain.
Since 2016, U.S. officials across the world – in Cuba, China and Russia – have reported experiencing the sudden onset of this eerie array of symptoms. Reporters Adam Entous and Jon Lee Anderson try to make sense of this confusing illness that has come to be called Havana syndrome in this update of an episode that originally aired in April 2023.
The reporters begin by tracking down one of the first people to report Havana syndrome symptoms, a CIA officer working in Cuba. This “patient zero” explains the ways Cuban intelligence surveil and harass American spies working on the island and his own experience of suddenly being struck with a mysterious, painful condition. When he reports the illness to his bosses at the CIA, he learns that other U.S. officials on the island are experiencing the same thing.
A CIA doctor sees reports from the field about this strange condition happening in Cuba. He’s sent to Havana to investigate the cause of the symptoms and whether they may stem from a mysterious sound recorded by patient zero. But during his first night on the island, the CIA doctor falls ill with the same syndrome he is there to investigate.
The reporters take us to Havana to visit the sites where people reported the onset of their symptoms, looking for answers.
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