In Brief

Mysterious Ailment Strikes US Employee in China, Drawing Comparisons to Cuba 'Sonic Attacks'

People standing in a queue in front of the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China.
People standing in a queue in front of the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China.
(Image credit: Freer Law/Alamy)

A U.S. government employee experienced mysterious symptoms after working at a U.S. consulate in China, in a case that's being likened to the so-called "sonic attacks" in Cuba last year.

The employee in Guangzhou, China, "reported subtle and vague, but abnormal sensations of sound and pressure," according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China. "We do not currently know what caused the reported symptoms and we are not aware of any similar situations in China," the statement said.

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Rachael Rettner
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Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.