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Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that mainly attacks the lungs. The VA has long-standing presumptive rules for active TB that appears within a set time after service.
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 6730
The VA recognizes tuberculosis (TB) as a disease that can be connected to your military service. TB is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can affect other parts of the body. Because TB can take time to show up, the VA gives it special help with proof: under 38 CFR §§ 3.307 and 3.309, active TB is on the list of chronic diseases that can get "presumptive" service connection. That means if active TB appears to a noticeable degree (at least 10 percent) within three years after service, the VA may presume it is connected to service — a longer window than the one year used for most chronic diseases.
How TB is rated depends on whether the disease is active or inactive. Active pulmonary TB is rated at 100 percent under Diagnostic Code 6730 (38 CFR § 4.97). When active TB becomes inactive, the VA orders an exam and the rating can change; inactive pulmonary TB (Diagnostic Code 6731) is rated based on what is left behind, such as restrictive, interstitial, or obstructive lung disease.
Veterans who were already entitled to compensation for pulmonary TB on August 19, 1968 fall under older graduated-rating rules (38 CFR § 4.97, codes 6721–6724): the 100 percent rating continues for two years after inactivity, then steps down to 50 percent for four years, then 30 percent for five years, with permanent 30 percent and 20 percent provisions after that. Similar graduated-rating provisions for inactive nonpulmonary TB appear in 38 CFR §§ 4.88c and 4.89. Knowing which set of rules applies can help you understand what to expect.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — not legal advice, not a VA decision, and not a prediction about any individual claim. Outcomes depend on your own facts and evidence; a denial can be appealed.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 2,704 real Board appeals for Tuberculosis
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Tuberculosis was linked to service:
In appeals where Tuberculosis was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
New evidence has been received to reopen the claim of service connection for tuberculosis, and it is granted. However, there is no current diagnosis of tuberculosis.
The Board has granted an effective date of August 29, 2016 for a 30 percent disability evaluation for service-connected COPD with residuals of TB. The Veteran's TDIU application is also granted.
The Veteran's tuberculosis, stomach pain/issue, left shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, back condition, left knee condition, and right ankle condition have all been granted service connection.,An increased rating of 30 percent for left elbow epicondylitis has also been granted.
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that his service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis was at least as likely as not a contributory cause of his death.
The Board granted an initial rating of 10 percent, but not higher, for pulmonary tuberculosis with restrictive lung volume and interstitial lung disease.
The Board granted service connection for mycobacterium tuberculosis based on the Veteran's participation in a Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War and the presumption under 38 C.F.R. § 3.317.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Tuberculosis often look at outcomes for these too:
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.