Persian Gulf Veterans

Persian Gulf War veterans are veterans who served anytime from August 2, 1990 to the present in Southwest Asia, including

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, or the Red Sea, the airspace above these locations.

The VA Presumptive List for Persian Gulf veterans is divided into three: Gulf War Syndrome, Multi-Symptom Illnesses, and Infectious Diseases. These conditions are considered service-connected if they develop any time during or after Gulf War service.

Gulf War Syndrome

The first VA Presumptive List is by far the most ambiguous.

After the Gulf War, many Gulf War vets began developing seemingly random, unconnected chronic symptoms that do not comprise a single identifiable diagnosis. Because of this, the term “Gulf War Syndrome” was coined to mean a group of unrelated, but disabling, symptoms that many Persian Gulf veterans developed after serving in Southwest Asia. If a clinical diagnosis can be made, then the symptoms do NOT constitute Gulf War Syndrome.

To be included under the heading of Gulf War Syndrome, each symptom must be present or reoccurring for at least 6 months (“chronic”), and cannot be tied to service outside Southwest Asia or be caused by the vet’s misconduct.

Gulf War Syndrome symptoms can include:

Fatigue
Skin symptoms
Headaches
Muscle pain
Joint pain
Neurological symptoms
Mental symptoms
Respiratory symptoms
Trouble sleeping
Cardiovascular symptoms
Abnormal weight loss
Menstrual disorders
Gastrointestinal symptoms

Visit our Gulf War Syndrome page for specifics on rating qualifying symptoms.

Multi-Symptom Illnesses

The second VA Presumptive List covers Multi-Symptom Conditions with no known cause. These are conditions that present a much higher level of disability than is medically justified due to lack of clinical findings to explain the severity of symptoms. Conditions with known or partially-known causes do not qualify.

Like with Gulf War Syndrome, these conditions must be Chronic.

Multi-Symptom Illnesses include:

- Fibromyalgia, code 5025
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, code 6354
- Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (like irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, functional constipation, etc.)

Infectious Diseases

For the final VA Presumptive List for Gulf War Veterans, veterans who develop one of the following infectious diseases qualify if they served in Southwest Asia or Afghanistan after September 19, 2001, unless there is sufficient evidence that the disease was not related to service.

All diseases must be manifest to 10% within 1 year of the veteran’s discharge date unless otherwise noted.

Brucellosis, code 6316
Campylobacter jejuni, code 6630
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), code 6331
Malaria, code 6304 (must be manifest to 10% within 1 year or the incubation period must have clearly begun while in service)
Tuberculosis (no time limit for manifestation)
Nontyphoid salmonella, code 6333
Shigella, code 6334
Visceral leishmaniasis, code 6301 (no time limit for manifestation)
West Nile Virus, code 6335

Many of these infectious diseases can cause other symptoms or conditions to develop over time. If a Gulf War veteran who qualifies for one of the above infectious diseases develops one of the following symptoms tied to that disease, it can also qualify for VA Disability. The symptom must, however, develop within the time specified below or, if no time is specified, be satisfactorily connected to the infectious disease by a medical authority.

Brucellosis:

Arthritis, code 5002
Infections of the Cardiovascular, Nervous, or Respiratory systems
Chronic meningitis and meningoencephalitis, code 8019 or 8000
Deafness, code 6100
Demyelinating meningovascular syndromes, code 8014
Episcleritis, code 6017
Fatigue, inattention, amnesia, and depression
Guillain-Barre syndrome, code 8011
Hepatic abnormalities, including granulomatous hepatitis, code 7345
Multifocal choroiditis, code 6011
Myelitis-radiculoneuritis, code 8010
Nummular keratitis, code 6001
Papilledema, code 6026
Optic neuritis, code 6026
Infections of the Genitourinary System
Sensorineural hearing loss, code 6100
Spondylitis, code 5240
Uveitis, code 6000

Compylobacter jejuni:

Guillain-Barre syndrome, code 8011 (must manifest within 2 months of the infection)
Reactive Arthritis, code 5002 (must manifest within 3 months of the infection)
Uveitis, code 6000 (must manifest within 1 month of the infection)

Coxiella burnetii:

Chronic hepatitis, code 7345
Endocarditis, code 7001
Osteomyelitis, code 5000
Chronic fatigue syndrome, code 6354
Vascular infection

Malaria:

Demyelinating polyneuropathy (code depends on the nerves affected)
Guillain-Barre syndrome, code 8011
Hematologic manifestations (anemia, codes 7714-7723, after falciparum malaria, or splenic rupture, code 7707, after vivax malaria)
Immune-complex glomerulonephritis, code 7536
Neurologic disease
Neuropsychiatric disease
Retinal hemorrhage and scarring, code 6011
Renal disease

Tuberculosis:

Active tuberculosis
Tissue damage from pulmonary and active tuberculosis (rated on the damaged tissue)

Nontyphoid Salmonella:

Reactive arthritis, code 5002 (must manifest within 3 months of infection)

Shigella:

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome, code 7732 (must manifest within 1 month of infection)
Reactive arthritis, code 5002 (must manifest within 3 months of infection)

Visceral Leishmaniasis:

Dermal leishmaniasis, code 7807 or 7808 (must manifest within 2 years of infection)
Reactivation of visceral leishmaniasis, code 6301

West Nile Virus:

Various physical, functional, or cognitive disability

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