Mysterious deaths in Havana

Fumigation against mosquitoes and not “sonic attacks” may have caused the mysterious illness which afflicted some 40 US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba, according to a new study commissioned by the Canadian government.

The incidents took place from late 2016 into 2018, causing the administration of Donald Trump to charge that diplomats had been attacked by some sort of secret weapon. Canada has refrained from such charges.

  The Guardian

The Canadians are a wiser lot.

The United States in 2017 reduced its embassy staff to a minimum and Canada followed more recently, citing the incidents and the danger posed to staff from what has become known as the “Havana syndrome”.

How would you like to be the ones left behind when your country is saying you're being attacked by a secret weapon?

Various scientific studies have yet to identify the cause of the diplomats’ cognitive ailments, ranging from dizziness and blurred vision to memory loss and difficulty concentrating.

[...]

[A] Canadian study by a team of researchers affiliated with the Brain Repair Centre at Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Health Authority studied Canadian victims.

[...]

The study was the first to include diplomats for whom there was baseline medical testing from before their postings in Havana, so as to better compare with the tests from afterwards. Canada started implementing the practice after diplomats first started complaining of sickness.

The researchers said they had detected different levels of brain damage in an area that causes symptoms reported by the diplomats and which is susceptible to neurotoxins. They then concluded that cholinesterase, a key enzyme required for the proper functioning of the nervous system, was being blocked there.

Guess what common compouds contain cholinesterase inhibitors. You got it. Insecticides. Insecticides that are banned in the US are sold in third world countries.

The report said the diplomats’ illnesses coincided with increased fumigation in and around residences where they lived.

[...]

“We report the clinical, imaging and biochemical evidence consistent with the hypothesis of over-exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors as the cause of brain injury,” the study concluded, while cautioning that other causes could not be ruled out and more study was needed.

I think you've found your culprit.

Friedman said it was not clear whether the broader Cuban population was affected by the fumigation and if not, why, but his team was planning a further study on this together with Cuban scientists.

They probably are, but if not, perhaps like insects, human populations can become resistant to the chemicals, too. And, if not, I'd try to find records going back as many generations as possible.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.