Joyce Riley, a former Air Force flight nurse in Houston, testified before the committee that she became ill while treating soldiers who returned from the Gulf War. Though she never left the United States during her tour of duty, she quickly began to show symptoms identical to those of her patients, including the debilitating chronic fatigue that now afflicts many veterans. At one point, Riley said, she was too weak to brush her teeth. She was lucky, she says, because she received prompt medical attention. Thousands of veterans have died, she believes, because their conditions went unrecognized and misdiagnosed.
Many veterans even describe bizarre symptoms in their household pets.
Frequently, Riley hears from physicians who are sick. Both his prize dogs are dragging their back legs, and he's sick too. Dr. Kathy Leisure, of Lebanon, Pa., has no doubt that the illness is an infectious disease. She has treated 600 Gulf War veterans, and one day noted a Gulf War-type rash on her nose. This is one way he could do that.