The mysterious incidents often involve victims hearing a strange noise, feeling unexplained heat or sensing pressure. That causes a traumatic brain injury in which victims suffer from headaches, vertigo, nausea and other symptoms that can last for years afterward.
William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, has pushed out officials who have been seen as moving too slowly to address the health concerns of victims, putting in place a new head of the Office of Medical Services. Well over 200 American officials have been injured in the health incidents since 2016, roughly half of them C.I.A. officers traveling overseas.
The rising number of episodes is increasing the pressure on the Biden administration to make conclusions about what is causing the illnesses and whether an adversarial intelligence service is responsible. Mr. Burns was angered after one of his close aides was injured and suffered Havana syndrome symptoms on a trip to India earlier this month.
The agency’s deputy director of operations makes all the assignments for the top intelligence officers in individual countries, including the removal of the Vienna station chief. Nevertheless, the move was approved by Mr. Burns, according to former officials.
At the State Department, Brian McKeon, the deputy secretary of state for management, held a town hall-style meeting this summer to discuss the health incidents with the department’s three missions in Vienna: the American delegation to the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe, U.S. Embassy staff in Austria and the diplomats assigned to other international organizations there.