(CNN) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that an incident involving a US government employee stationed in China who reported "abnormal sensations of sound and pressure" suggesting a mild brain injury has medical indications that are "very similar" and "entirely consistent" to those experienced by American diplomats posted in Havana.

US officials have issued a health alert in China following the incident. Additionally, the US State Department is looking into whether the incident is similar to what happened in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, a US diplomatic official told CNN, which the US government characterized as a "sonic attack." That incident led to a reduction in staffing at the US Embassy in Havana.

The official who fell ill was assigned to the city of Guangzhou in southern China and reported a range of physical symptoms from late 2017 through to April 2018, the State Department said. The employee was sent back to the United States for assessment.

The US Embassy in Beijing learned on May 18 that the clinical findings of the evaluation matched that of a "mild traumatic brain injury," an embassy spokeswoman told CNN.

Pompeo said the State Department is moving medical teams into place in Guangzhou and has asked for assistance from the Chinese government, which has committed to providing it.

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Read More</s>WASHINGTON — The United States will keep pressure on North Korea to come to the negotiating table and abandon its nuclear weapons program, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday after President Trump canceled his planned summit with the North.

He said sanctions will continue to squeeze North Korea's economy, along with diplomatic efforts to possibly reschedule a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which had been set for June 12 in Singapore.

Trump abruptly canceled the meeting Thursday morning, citing North Korea's angry response to comments made by Vice President Pence. Pompeo also pointed out that North Korea did not respond to repeated efforts by U.S. diplomats to arrange logistics for the summit.

Pompeo said the U.S. will continue to work with other countries to monitor and intercept ship-to-ship transfers to North Korea, and transfers of refined petroleum and other products.

“That won’t change. We still have work to do to build out each of those,” he said. “We will go back to others to do more as well.”

Pompeo said China also agreed to maintain pressure by cutting back its trade with North Korea at Trump's request. China is Pyongyang's main trading partner.

“It’s very very important that the world observes that this effort continues,” Pompeo said. “We need our partners who have done so much good work at economic pain to their own countries, it is essential to get this outcome.”

Pompeo said he participated in meetings with Trump before the president announced canceling the summit.

“We did talk about the path forward in the days and weeks ahead to get back to where we were four weeks ago,” Pompeo told the senators. “I hope that we are quickly able to get back to that place, but Chairman Kim will have to make that decision himself.”

Pompeo read aloud Trump's letter to Kim that said: “Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you.” The president also included a threat: "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."

More: Trump cancels meeting with North Korea, citing 'tremendous anger and open hostility'

More: 'Bad deal' with North Korea is not an option, Pompeo says

More: Japan's foreign minister seeks U.S. help on abductees in North Korea

More: South Korea's peace hangs on summit with Trump and North's Kim Jong Un</s>Mike Pompeo says sonic attack in China 'entirely consistent' with Cuba attack

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the 'sonic attack' on US diplomats in China is very similar to an attack on Canadian diplomats in Cuba in 2017</s>The United States is warning its citizens in China after a government employee had “abnormal sensations of sound and pressure,” reminiscent to the experiences both Canadian and American diplomats experienced in Havana, Cuba.

The U.S. State Department issued a “health alert” Wednesday, alerting citizens to the reported incident.

“A U.S. government employee in China recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure,” the notice said. “The U.S. government is taking these reports seriously and has informed its official staff in China of this event.”

READ MORE: Canadian embassy in Cuba now rated as dangerous as Afghanistan

The alert went on to note the government didn’t know what caused the reported symptoms in Guangzhou city, and was not aware of any other reported incidents in the country.

“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 notice said.

WATCH: Canada pulls families of diplomatic staff from Cuba after mysterious health symptoms

The incident in China is similar to a mysterious illness that sickened at least 10 Canadian diplomats and their family members who were posted in Havana between April 2017 and January 2018.

In April, the Canadian government announced that concussion-like symptoms were reported over the past year by workers in Havana, which continue to persist among the 10 individuals. The unexplained illness prompted the government to disallow diplomats from having their families accompany them during their post in Havana.

In an email to Global News, the Canadian government said it wasn’t aware of any incidents involving a Canadian diplomat.

“Global Affairs Canada is aware of the alert issued by the U.S. State Department regarding the unusual health symptoms experienced by a U.S. government employee stationed in Guangzhou, China,” Krista Humick, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said. “The health, safety and security of our diplomatic staff and their families abroad is our top priority.

“To date, we are unaware of any Canadian diplomat being affected. We are in contact with U.S. officials and are closely monitoring developments,” Humick said.

Canada also has a consulate in the city of Guangzhou.

WATCH: Canada has no clue what made Cuba diplomats sick

Canadian authorities have been working with their Cuban counterparts to try and get to the bottom of the mysterious illness that has also stricken a number of American diplomats who were also serving in Havana.

In a briefing last January, officials were floating the idea of a sonic attack, but are now saying it’s “very improbable.”

READ MORE: Eight Canadians sickened in mysterious Cuba incidents, RCMP leading investigation

In total, 27 Canadian diplomats and their dependents were tested in the last 12 months after several of them presented unusual symptoms, including headaches, nosebleeds, loss of hearing, loss of balance and short-term memory loss.

Last October, the State Department ordered non-essential embassy personnel and the families of all staff to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. could not protect them from unexplained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans.

Speaking in the U.S. Congress, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the incident in China had the similarities to the medical incidents in Cuba.

WATCH: U.S. senator says no evidence of ‘sonic attacks’ in Cuba

“The medical indications are very similar, and entirely consistent with, the medical indications that were taking place to Americans working in Cuba,” Pompeo said. “We have medical teams moving to be on the ground, we are working to figure out what took place both in Havana and now in China as well.

“We’ve asked the Chinese for their assistance in doing that and they have committed to honouring their commitments under the Vienna Convention to keep American foreign service officers safe,” Pompeo said.

In Wednesday’s alert, the State Department said that if citizens had “concerns about any symptoms or medical problems that developed during or after a stay in China, consult a medical professional.”

“If you experience any unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises, do not attempt to locate their source,” the alert said. “Instead, move to a location where the sounds are not present.”</s>Echoes Of Cuba? U.S. Employee In China Hit With 'Sensations Of Sound And Pressure'

The State Department said that a U.S. government employee assigned to Guangzhou, China, has reported experiencing "vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that "the medical indications are very similar and entirely consistent" with the symptoms reported by Americans working at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. "We have medical teams that are moving to be on the ground there. We are working to figure out what took place both in Havana, and now in China, as well."

The federal employee reported experiencing physical symptoms from late 2017 through April 2018, when he or she returned to the U.S. for medical evaluation. That evaluation found that the employee's symptoms were similar to those of someone with a head concussion or mild traumatic brain injury.

The U.S. operates a consulate in Guangzhou, a sprawling commercial city and port in southern China. The Chinese government has assured the U.S. that it is investigating the matter and taking appropriate measures, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Suspected "sonic attacks" affecting more than a dozen U.S. diplomats and family members in Havana beginning in November 2016 led to the U.S. pulling all nonessential staff from the embassy and expelling 15 Cuban diplomats last year. Cuba has denied any involvement in the attacks.

Though some experts expressed doubt when the possibility of a sonic attack in Cuba was first raised, the State Department points to a study by independent medical personnel published earlier this year in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

That study found that 21 U.S. government employees in Havana experienced "persistent cognitive, vestibular, and oculomotor dysfunction, as well as sleep impairment and headaches, were observed ... associated with reports of directional audible and/or sensory phenomena of unclear origin. These individuals appeared to have sustained injury to widespread brain networks without an associated history of head trauma."

Dr. Charles Rosenfarb, the State Department's medical director, told a Senate subcommittee in January that the employees "associated the onset of these symptoms to their exposures with unusual sounds or auditory sensations. Various descriptions were given: 'a high-pitched beam of sound'; an 'incapacitating sound'; a 'baffling sensation' akin to driving with the windows partially open in a car; or just an intense pressure in one ear."

The State Department says it doesn't know what caused the reported symptoms in Guangzhou, and isn't aware of any other similar cases in China.

But it did issue a warning Wednesday: "While in China, if you experience any unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises, do not attempt to locate their source. Instead, move to a location where the sounds are not present."

The U.S. government has about 2,000 employees posted to China. The mysterious incident comes at a time of tension between the U.S. and China over trade disputes.</s>(CNN) — US officials have issued a health alert in China after a US government employee stationed there reported “abnormal sensations of sound and pressure” that indicated a mild brain injury.

The US State Department is looking into whether the incident is a “sonic attack,” a US diplomatic official told CNN, similar to what happened in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, which led to a reduction in staffing at the nation’s US embassy in Havana.

The official who fell ill was assigned to the city of Guangzhou in southern China and reported a range of physical symptoms from late 2017 through to April 2018, the State Department said. The employee was sent back to the United States for assessment.

The US Embassy in Beijing learned on May 18 that the clinical findings of the evaluation matched that of a “mild traumatic brain injury,” an embassy spokeswoman told CNN.

A US Diplomatic official told CNN the State Department “is looking into whether this is a sonic attack, similar to what happened in Cuba.”

CNN has reached out to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs but has not yet received a response on this matter.

According to the alert issued by the US State Department on Wednesday, the cause of the injuries to the employee in China remains unknown, but officials were not aware of other similar symptoms among the diplomatic community in the country.

The spokeswoman at the US Embassy in Beijing told CNN the State Department was taking the incident “very seriously” and was working to determine the cause and impact of it.

“The Chinese government has assured us they are also investigating and taking appropriate measures,” the spokeswoman said.

The State Department said in its Wednesday statement that anyone who experienced “unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena” while in China should move away from the source of the noise.

The alert immediately raised comparisons with a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that led to the withdrawal of most US personnel from the embassy in Havana. The cause of those incidents, reported in late 2016 and early 2017, still remains a mystery.

At a congressional hearing in January, US officials detailed how personnel came to experience a variety of symptoms including sharp ear pain, headaches, ringing in one ear, vertigo, disorientation, attention issues and signs consistent with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion. In nearly all cases, the ailments were preceded by some sort of “acoustic element,” such as a “high-pitched beam of sound” or a “baffling sensation akin to driving with the windows partially open in a car.”

Cuban officials previously denied they had anything to do with the diplomats’ health problems and said the whole affair might be the result of mass hysteria.</s>The United States said a government employee in China suffered a mild brain injury and experienced "abnormal" sensations of sound and pressure, symptoms similar to those experienced by US officials in Cuba last year which were blamed on mysterious "sonic" attacks.

The US consulate in Guangzhou issued a 'health alert' to Americans in China on Wednesday and said it was seriously monitoring the incident, which took place in the southern Chinese city.

"A US government employee in China recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure," the consulate said in an email to Americans in China.

"The US 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."

Last September the US ordered more than half its government personnel out of Cuba, and warned Americans against visiting the country.</s>BEIJING/WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - An American citizen working at the U.S. consulate in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has reported suffering from "abnormal" sounds and pressure leading to a mild brain injury, the U.S. embassy said on Wednesday and China said it was investigating the incident.

The embassy, which issued a health alert to Americans living in China, said it could not link the case to health issues suffered by U.S. government staff in Cuba dating back to late 2016.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was concerned about the "serious medical incident" and raised it with China's visiting State Councillor Wang Yi.

"We notified China of what took place as best we know it and they have responded in a way that is exactly the right response," Pompeo told a news conference with Wang. "We're working together to resolve (this) ... I hope we can figure it out."

Earlier, he told Congress that the incident in China was "medically similar" to one suffered by American diplomats in Cuba.

Wang, speaking through a translator, said Beijing was investigating the incident and "we haven't found any organization or individual has carried out such a sonic influence."

"We don't want to see that this individual case will be magnified, complicated or even politicized. We hope people will not associate it with other unnecessary matters," he cautioned.

The unnamed American citizen assigned to the consulate in Guangzhou had reported a variety of "physical symptoms" dating from late 2017 to April this year, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said in an email.

The worker was sent to the United States for further evaluation. "The clinical findings of this evaluation matched mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI)," the embassy said.

The State Department was taking the incident very seriously and working to determine the cause and impact, the embassy said. Pompeo said that medical teams were heading to Guangzhou to investigate the incident.

The State Department added that the Chinese government told the embassy it was also investigating and taking appropriate measures.

"We cannot at this time connect it with what happened in Havana, but we are investigating all possibilities," a U.S. embassy official told Reuters.

The U.S. government on Wednesday issued a health alert to Americans in China, warning them about the incident it described as "subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure".

"While in China, if you experience any unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises, do not attempt to locate their source. Instead, move to a location where the sounds are not present," the emailed alert said.

The U.S. government in October expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the United States for what it said was Cuba's failure to protect staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana from mysterious health incidents at one point thought to possibly have been acoustic "attacks".

Staff there reported symptoms including hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue and cognitive issues, though Cuban officials dismissed the idea of acoustic strikes as "science fiction" and accused Washington of slander.

The cause of those incidents remains unresolved.

The Canadian government in April said it would remove families of diplomats posted to Cuba after Canadian personnel there in 2017 also reported similar health symptoms. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle and David Alexnader in Washington; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Susan Thomas)</s>WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that an incident reported in Guangzhou, China, had similarities to a case in Cuba last year where U.S. diplomats became ill amid accusations that they had been victims of a sonic attack.

"The medical indications are very similar, and entirely consistent with, the medical indications that have taken place to Americans working in Cuba," Pompeo said during testimony in the U.S. Congress.

"We have medical teams that are moving to be on the ground there. We are working to figure out what took place both in Havana and in, now in China as well," he told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Washington last year expelled two Cuban diplomats over the alleged incidents in Havana, which it said caused symptoms from hearing loss to nausea in U.S. embassy staff and their families. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown)</s>BEIJING A U.S. government employee posted in southern China has signs of possible brain injury after reporting disturbing sounds and sensations, the State Department said Wednesday, in events that seemed to draw parallels with mysterious ailments that struck U.S. diplomats in Cuba.

The State Department warning, issued through the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, advised U.S. citizens in China to seek medical help if they felt similar symptoms. But it said that no other cases had been reported.

"A U.S. government employee in China recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure," the health alert said. "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 employee was working in Guangzhou, and "reported experiencing a variety of physical symptoms" from late 2017 until April, Jinnie Lee, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said in an emailed response to questions.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that medical teams were heading to Guangzhou to address the issue.

"The medical indications are very similar and entirely consistent with the medical indications that have taken place to Americans working in Cuba," he said.

The embassy was told Friday "that the clinical findings of this evaluation matched mild traumatic brain injury," according to Lee, who said she could not reveal any more details to protect the employee's privacy. Mild traumatic brain injury can show up as headache, dizziness, nausea, poor memory and a general foggy sensation.

In a brief afternoon news conference at the State Department with China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, Pompeo said that the Chinese "have responded in a way that is exactly the right response."

"They've offered to assist us in investigating how this came to be," Pompeo said, without mentioning that Cuba had made a similar offer that the United States treated with some skepticism. He added, "We're working together to resolve it."

Wang said that China had yet to find that "any organization or individual has carried out such a sonic influence," and he expressed the hope that the incident would not harm relations.
The United States issues a health alert in China, following a government employee reporting "abnormal sensations of sound and pressure", one in a range of physical symptoms, from late 2017 through to April 2018. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the State Department is moving medical teams into place in Guangzhou, adding that the incident was "entirely consistent" with reported "sonic attacks" in Cuba in 2016 and 2017.