Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services, and it tracks disease, investigates outbreaks and publishes health data and guidance.

History of the CDC

The agency began as a wartime malaria program. The Office of Malaria Control in War Areas controlled the spread of malaria in the southeastern states, where much of United States basic military training took place. Joseph W. Mountin, a physician and public health leader, planned to turn that office into a peacetime agency to monitor and control infectious diseases.

The CDC was organized as the Communicable Disease Center on 1 July 1946 in Atlanta, as part of the US Public Health Service. It started with fewer than 400 employees, mostly entomologists and engineers who had worked on malaria control. Emory University donated 15 acres on Clifton Road in 1947 for a headquarters, although construction did not begin for more than a decade.

In 1951 the first class of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers arrived in Atlanta for training and pledged to go wherever they were called over the next two years. These “disease detectives” became known for “shoe-leather epidemiology,” the practice of finding the cause of an outbreak by visiting the places where people fell ill. Epidemiology, the study of how disease spreads in populations,.

The agency’s name changed as its work widened. It became the Center for Disease Control in 1970, and after a reorganization it became the Centers for Disease Control in 1981. The words “and Prevention” were added in 1992, but federal law kept the abbreviation CDC.

Structure and mission of the CDC

CDC’s structure, as shown on its organization page, consists of centers, an institute and offices. The centers include the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, the Global Health Center, the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and the National Center for Health Statistics. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the one institute. Offices include the Office of Readiness and Response and the Office of Science.

The agency’s September 2025 priorities statement says it serves the American public with data, health guidance and preventive measures, and that its mission is to protect Americans from infectious and non-communicable diseases. Its headquarters remains at 1600 Clifton Road in Atlanta.

What the CDC does

The CDC’s core work is disease surveillance and investigation. Its scientists study outbreaks, develop laboratory tests and train public health workers, and many states and foreign countries have sent staff to Atlanta for training since the early years. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the agency’s weekly publication, has carried notices of new diseases, and it first mentioned the condition later named AIDS in its issue of 5 June 1981.

CDC investigators identified the cause of Legionnaires’ disease in the mid-1970s and of toxic shock syndrome in the early 1980s. The agency also played a central part in the eradication of smallpox. In 1962 it set up a smallpox surveillance unit, and in 1963 it tested a new jet-gun vaccine in Tonga. CDC began work in Central and West Africa in 1966, and with hundreds of CDC staff on the World Health Organization‘s global team, the disease had been eliminated worldwide by 1977. The United States spent about 32 million dollars on the project.

The CDC also works abroad. Its Global Health Center addresses challenges such as HIV, tuberculosis, vaccine-preventable diseases and emergency and refugee health. The agency says it is strategically located in 63 countries and serves another 20 from those hubs, and that when a viral hemorrhagic fever such as Ebola is identified it is first to confirm the diagnosis and give guidance on containing the virus.

Funding and governance of the CDC

The CDC is a federal agency inside the Department of Health and Human Services, so its direction and funding come through the federal government. The history of the agency notes that Congress was more receptive to CDC requests for money than either the Public Health Service or the Bureau of the Budget during the decades when the headquarters was being built.

This entry does not list an annual budget, since the figures change with each appropriation. The CDC has an Office of Budget Policy and Appropriations to handle the work, and it states its priorities in documents such as the 2025 statement.

Criticism and controversies

The agency’s history includes real criticism, and the sources record it plainly. In 1976 some people who received a vaccine meant to protect the nation against swine flu developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disease that causes paralysis, and the campaign was stopped immediately. The feared epidemic never arrived.

The Public Health Service and CDC were also faulted for the Tuskegee study, which ran from 1932 to 1972 and followed the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men. Representatives of both attended when President Bill Clinton formally apologized to the survivors in May 1997.

More recently, CDC’s own priorities statement says that public trust in the agency has declined in recent years because of inconsistent messaging, lack of transparency and difficulty in responding to emerging health threats. It adds that this loss of trust has weakened its ability to lead in crises, and that rebuilding trust is essential to its mission.

Impact and legacy of the CDC

In the 1970s CDC scientists also ran a study that proved for the first time that recommended infection-control practices work in hospitals. Its work on smallpox, hospital infection control and outbreak response has shaped how health agencies monitor and contain disease.

This article describes an organization and does not offer health advice. People who want guidance on a health matter should consult official CDC resources and their own clinicians.

This entry explains a medical term. It is not medical advice. If you are concerned about your health, speak with a qualified health professional.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue