US staffer suffers mild brain injury

The US embassy in China issued a health alert yesterday after a US government employee experienced an "abnormal" sound and suffered a mild brain injury -- in an incident reminiscent of a mysterious illness that hit diplomats in Cuba.

US and Chinese authorities are investigating the matter after the employee, who was assigned to the southern city of Guangzhou, was diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), said embassy spokeswoman Jinnie Lee.

In an alert emailed to US citizens in China, the embassy said it does not know what caused the symptoms or of any similar situations in the country.

In Cuba last year, the US disclosed that 24 diplomats and their family members had fallen victim to an unsolved mysterious attack that left them with injuries resembling brain trauma. Ten Canadian diplomats and their relatives also suffered a strange illness.

"We cannot at this time connect it with what happened in Havana but we are investigating all possibilities," a US embassy official in Beijing told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

The embassy's health alert says the government employee "recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure".

"The US government is taking these reports seriously and has informed its official staff in China of this event," the message says.