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These new reports demonstrate that these mysterious incidents continue, despite pledges from President Joe Biden’s top national security team to redouble their efforts to investigate the case.
A handful of the affected personnel had to be evacuated from Vienna and are now receiving medical assistance in the United States, the sources said.
“In coordination with our partners in the United States government, we are vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents (UHI) within the community of the United States Embassy in Vienna or wherever they are reported,” said said a State Department spokesperson. “All employees who reported a possible UHI received immediate and appropriate attention and care. “
The State Department has put together a team of medical experts who can respond to reports of possible events around the world and has created an interagency triage tool that standardizes assessments of such incidents across different agencies, said the spokesperson.
This summer, the ministry also set up a pilot referral program “to collect pre-incident information on our employees in the event of a reported incident,” the spokesperson said. This program is optional for U.S. diplomats, several diplomats told CNN.
It is unclear what the State Department is doing to protect current U.S. personnel in Vienna from potential future attacks, and there are frustrations that the Department is not doing enough to protect its workforce. U.S. diplomats who were unaware of these reported incidents told CNN the attacks could impact where they choose to serve, especially for diplomats who have children.
Cases have also been reported in other parts of the world, but Vienna is the only place where there is currently a cluster of cases, the sources said.
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