***Article first published by 'Politico' on May 23, 2018***

The State Department has warned U.S. citizens in China about a U.S. government employee who reported feeling “sensations of sound and pressure,” symptoms that bear a resemblance to ones felt by injured American personnel at the U.S. embassy in Havana.

The U.S. government employee, assigned to the city of Guangzhou, reported a “variety of physical symptoms” from late last year through last month, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The employee was sent to the U.S. for further evaluation, which determined the symptoms were similar to what might be seen in a patient with head concussion or mild traumatic brain injury.

“A U.S. government employee in China recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure,” the State Department said in its warning to U.S. citizens issued Wednesday. “The U.S. government is taking these reports seriously and has informed its official staff in China of this event. We do not currently know what caused the reported symptoms and we are not aware of any similar situations in China, either inside or outside of the diplomatic community.”

The State Department recommended that others experiencing similar sensations seek medical help and warned those experiencing “unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises” against trying to locate their source.

The Chinese government, Nauert said, has assured the State Department that it is investigating the symptoms felt by the U.S. government employee.

Nauert said staff at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and at all five U.S. consulates in China gathered for town hall meetings Wednesday where personnel could raise concerns. The Beijing town hall was led by U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad, Nauert said, and a medical team from the U.S. will travel to Guangzhou next week to conduct baseline medical evaluations of consulate staff members who request them.

The report from the U.S. government employee in China was similar to those Cuba, where multiple American personnel were the victims of what have been labeled “sonic attacks” that left some with severe hearing loss. The Cuban government has denied involvement in the attacks, although President Donald Trump has said he believes Cuba “knew about it” and is “responsible” for the attacks.

As a result of the attacks, the State Department last September ordered a dramatic drawdown of its embassy staff in Havana, sending home more than 60 percent of the Americans working there. The State Department also expelled 15 staff members from the Cuban embassy in Washington, a move the U.S. government said was aimed at achieving diplomatic parity.