U.S. adds 2 diplomats to Cuban-ills list

WASHINGTON — Two more Americans have been confirmed as being affected by unexplained health attacks targeting U.S. diplomats in Cuba, the United States said Tuesday. That raises the total number of victims to 21.

The additional two individuals appear to be cases that were only recently reported but occurred in the past. The State Department said no new, medically confirmed “incidents” have taken place since one in late August. Earlier this month, the U.S. disclosed that there had been another incident in August after previously saying the attacks had stopped.

State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said the U.S. continues to assess American personnel. Investigators said the attacks started in the fall of 2016.

Officials have said previously that the incidents, deemed “health attacks” by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, affected diplomats posted to the embassy in Havana along with family members who live with them.

The U.S. didn’t say how serious the newly disclosed incidents were, but the union representing American diplomats has said mild traumatic brain injury is among the diagnoses given to some diplomats victimized by the attacks. The American Foreign Service Association has said permanent hearing loss was another diagnosis, and additional symptoms included brain swelling, severe headaches, loss of balance and “cognitive disruption.”