{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T18:07:29Z","timestamp":1788545249092,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1-2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a condition that affects 30-40% of nearly 700,000 Veterans who were deployed to Operations Desert Shield\/Storm\/Sabre (ODS\/S\/S) between August 1990 and June 1991 and is characterized by a constellation of symptoms, including fatigue, mood\/cognition, chronic pain, gastrointestinal (most frequently referred to as \u201cirritable bowel syndrome\u201d), respiratory, and skin issues. We review the development of various case definitions for GWI, as well as exposure theories. Despite heavy investment in research, both the pathophysiology and underlying cause of GWI remain areas of active inquiry. Similarities have previously been noted in symptomatology between GWI and myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS), and more recently, long COVID (LC), a late effect of infection with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). These conditions are discussed with respect to the similarities of their symptomatology and pathophysiology. Long COVID is a post-viral syndrome, and ME\/CFS is widely considered to be likely post-infectious as well. This comparison leads to the proposal of the hypothesis that GWI may also be post-viral. Given the similarity of GWI and LC, it is possible that Veterans with GWI had an antecedent infection with a virus related to SARS-CoV-2, potentially the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS) or an ancestor of this virus. The MERS antibodies have been found in dromedary camels in Saudi Arabia since 1983 to the present, including the time of ODS\/S\/S. There is abundant evidence to support further investigation into this topic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/milmed\/usaf092","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,7]],"date-time":"2025-03-07T23:19:22Z","timestamp":1741389562000},"page":"e7-e11","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Gulf War Illness: A Historical Review and Considerations of a Post-Viral Syndrome"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"191","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2442-9437","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elizabeth","family":"Bast","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ambulatory Medicine, Miami VA Health System , Miami, FL 33125,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Institute for NeuroImmune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University , Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9878-9633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dylan J","family":"Jester","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto, CA 94304,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Women\u2019s Operational Military Exposure Network Center of Excellence (WOMEN CoE), VA Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto, CA 94304,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Palacio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Miami VA Healthcare System , Miami, FL 33125,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami, FL 33125,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7632-590X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maxine","family":"Krengel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto, CA 94304,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Neurology, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine , Boston, MA 02118,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Reinhard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterans Affairs, War Related Illness and Injury Study Center , Washington, DC 20422,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J Wesson","family":"Ashford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto, CA 94304,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94304,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026012303272426600_R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2015.08.022","article-title":"Recent research on Gulf War illness and other health problems in veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: effects of toxicant exposures during deployment","volume":"74","author":"White","year":"2016","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"issue":"3-4","key":"2026012303272426600_R2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e191","DOI":"10.1093\/milmed\/usy227","article-title":"Autonomic symptoms in Gulf War Veterans evaluated at the war related illness and injury study center","volume":"184","author":"Fox","year":"2019","journal-title":"Milt 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