Are 1990-1991 Gulf War veterans illnesses contagious?
A. A few veterans’ illnesses are known to be contagious, but there is little reason to believe that most veterans’ illnesses can be spread to other persons. Of all the veterans (33,542) who have completed the detailed medical evaluations at the DoD clinics and hospitals, about 3% were found to have an infection as their main diagnosis. A small number of these veterans had infections well known to medical science which could be passed on to other persons (viral hepatitis, herpes simplex infections, HIV infection, and tuberculosis). Otherwise, the vast majority of the infections were either brief, one-time illnesses, easily treated and cured illnesses, or infections that are not contagious from person to person. Other than the specific infections of malaria and leishmaniasis (which are not spread from person to person), none of the veterans’ infections can be specifically linked to service in the Persian Gulf. The infectious diseases among veterans resemble the range of illnesses common
