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The document says an independent environmental assessment of Canadian staff quarters in Havana “revealed no evidence of unusual environmental phenomena” and “found no evidence of foul play at the staff quarters.”

Government lawyers acknowledge that some of the 14 plaintiffs in the lawsuit exhibited concussion-like symptoms, but say the cause is unknown and that “in any case, the Defendant pleads that there is no definitive medical diagnosis of any medical condition, illness or disease called Havana Syndrome, notwithstanding the use of this term by the Plaintiffs.”

They say the government “has no knowledge or insufficient knowledge” to conclusively determine how many plaintiffs were affected by the symptoms referred to as Havana Syndrome.

The diplomats, who are kept anonymous in the filings, allege that between January 2017 and November 2018 they and their families stationed in Cuba suffered such symptoms as cognitive brain injuries, migraines, nosebleeds, nausea, sleep disturbances, emotional disturbances, vision problems and loss of consciousness.

One of the diplomats first learned in April 2017 from an American neighbour in Havana that American officials were reporting strange injuries, possibly perpetrated by a foreign power, and that Americans were evacuating Cuba because of it. The diplomat alerted embassy management, kicking off the Canadian investigation of the matter.