In a statement on Wednesday evening, the State Department’s spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said that “a number of individuals” had been sent to the United States for further testing and that the medical examinations continued in Guangzhou.
Among those who reported symptoms was Mr. Lenzi. In an email sent to the entire staff of the consulate, he complained that the first employee was evacuated in April, but that no one was told of the health concerns until a month later — after doctors in the United States had found evidence of brain trauma. The initial health alert, he said in an interview, suggested it was an isolated case. “They knew full well it wasn’t,” he said.
The consulate, which opened in 2013, is
a state-of-the-art building designed to withstand electronic eavesdropping and other security and intelligence threats.
In an interview before leaving China, Mr. Lenzi said that he had lived in the same apartment tower as the officer evacuated in April. It is one of several high-rise buildings in The Canton Place, a modern complex built around a plaza and bordered by restaurants, cafes and galleries. Another diplomat who reported symptoms was at a different upscale building near the consulate.
Mr. Lenzi said that over the past year he and his wife had experienced similar physical symptoms, including headaches, sleeplessness and nausea, and on three or four occasions they heard odd noises, though they did not put them together until the disclosures last month.
Even if people are evacuated for further tests, that does not necessarily mean that they have suffered injuries or illnesses, the officials emphasized. Only 25 percent of those evacuated from Cuba, for example, were later found to have health problems.
But the Chinese cases have raised alarms inside the State Department. Now led by Mr. Pompeo, the department appears eager to avoid the criticism it faced over what some called its handling of the Cuba cases.
In addition to the department’s medical team, William E. Todd, the acting director general of the Foreign Service, and Michael T. Evanoff, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, flew to Guangzhou to assess the situation. Their visit was not announced in advance, and they were not made available to comment before departing on Wednesday.
In Tuesday’s statement, Mr. Pompeo said he had created a health care task force to examine “the unexplained health incidents that have affected a number of U.S. government personnel and family members stationed overseas.”
The statement left open the possibility that there have been similar events at other American embassies or consulates. One American official said that he was aware of reports of isolated episodes, but that there did not appear to be any discernible pattern.
Guangzhou is a major commercial hub of 14 million people on the Pearl River, about 75 miles north of Hong Kong. In addition to the embassy in Beijing and the consulates in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the United States operates consulates in Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan.
Mr. Lenzi worked for the diplomatic security department, and he believes that his work could have made him a target. Before joining the Foreign Service in 2011, he worked with the International Republican Institute, funded by Congress, promoting democratic reforms in Ukraine and Georgia — two countries where Russia has denounced American involvement.
