Infections Associated with War: the American Forces Experience in Iraq and Afghanistan

Infectious diseases and war have been intertwined throughout history. Trauma-related complications, food- and water-borne diseases, endemic zoonoses, and respiratory and vector-borne infections characterize specific types of challenges to the health of the American Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). This review centers on subacute infections that may present or persist upon redeployment to the United States and those that may be less familiar to the American medical community. These include Q fever, tuberculosis, malaria, leishmaniasis, brucellosis, endemic arboviruses, diarrhea, and wound infections with multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.