A CIA agent fell ill with suspected Havana syndrome while on a work trip to India with agency director William Burns.
The unidentified officer needed medical attention after the incident earlier this month. They reported symptoms associated with the unexplained syndrome, which include headaches, pain, nausea or vertigo brought on by sounds, pressure or heat.
Burns is said to be 'fuming' with anger over the incident.
Speculation abounds as to whether the incident - if caused by an adversary - was deliberately designed to targets Burns' entourage, or if the attackers were unaware they were targeting an officer traveling with the CIA boss.
But some within the agency are saying that having someone who travelled so closely with the director fall ill is a 'direct message' to Burns that no one within the agency is safe, CNN reported.
An unidentified CIA officer had to receive medical attention after reporting symptoms associated with the unexplained Havana syndrome after travelling to India earlier this month with CIA director William Burns (pictured)
The sonic weapon the could cause Havana syndrome is said to be a smaller version of this 1990s Soviet microwave generator, which is kept at the University of New Mexico
The circumstances surrounding the incident in India are still being investigated, including if the agent was targeted because of his proximity to Burns.
Former officials say if it was an attack by an adversarial power, targeting someone in Burns' delegation is an 'egregious escalation,' the New York Times reported.
This incident is the second reported case of the illness to affect U.S. personnel in less than a month.
During Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to Asia in late August her departure from Singapore was delayed by more than three hours due to an 'anomalous health incident in Hanoi,' which is what the U.S. government officially calls suspected Havana syndrome cases.
Multiple U.S. personnel suffered symptoms consistent with the syndrome, with at least two personnel in Hanoi having to be medevacked out of the country.
Officials are still looking into the cause of the symptoms, with theories that symptoms are caused inadvertently by surveillance equipment, or that incidents are caused by a mysterious sonic weapon.
Although referred to as Anomalous Health Incidents by US government officials, the Havana Syndrome earned its colloquial name from the first reported instance of the illness in 2016 at the US embassy in Havana, Cuba (pictured)
Vice President Kamala Harris' departure from Singapore was delayed by nearly three hours because of an 'anomalous health incident in Hanoi,' which was the next stop in her Asia trip
There have been 200 reported cases of the yet unexplained illness, colloquially named for its first reported case in 2016 at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba.
Roughly half of the cases involved CIA officers or their relatives, nearly 60 have been linked to Department of Defense workers or relatives, and about 50 involved State Department personnel the outlet reported.
