US issues alert about auditory illnesses

BEIJING — The State Department issued a health alert Friday to U.S. citizens living or traveling in China, advising them to seek medical attention if they experience “auditory or sensory phenomena” similar to those experienced by U.S. diplomats evacuated to the United States.

The alert, posted on the department’s website, said those who suspect they have such symptoms should not try to locate the source of any “unidentified auditory sensation” but should seek medical care.

The advisory came after at least two employees at the U.S. Consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, who showed symptoms similar to those suffered by U.S. diplomats in Cuba in 2016, were flown out this week for testing by specialists at the University of Pennsylvania.

In April, the first diplomat evacuated from Guangzhou complained of hearing odd sounds and experiencing headaches and dizziness. U.S. diplomats experienced similar symptoms in Cuba, and the United States said the Americans were targets of “specific attacks” there.

U.S. officials have suggested that Russia was involved in the targeting of the diplomats in Cuba, and possibly also in Guangzhou, perhaps with the tacit knowledge of the Chinese.

Friday, the U.S. pulled out two more of its workers from its embassy in Cuba and is testing them for possible brain injury, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

The two individuals are considered “potentially new cases” but have not yet been “medically confirmed,” a State Department official said. Two other officials said the individuals have been brought for testing to the University of Pennsylvania.

If confirmed by doctors to have the same condition, the two individuals would mark the 25th and 26th confirmed patients from the bizarre incidents in Cuba.