Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Logo of the CDC
Logo of the CDC
Agency overview
Formed July 1, 1946
Preceding agency Communicable Disease Center
Jurisdiction Federal government of the United States
Headquarters Metro Atlanta, GA
Employees 15,000
Annual budget $8.8 billion USD (2008)
Agency executive Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Parent agency United States Department of Health and Human Services

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in the Metro Atlanta area, adjacent to the campus of Emory University and northeast of downtown Atlanta.[1][2] It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

Contents

[edit] History

See also: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention timeline
CDC headquarters in Metro Atlanta as seen from Emory University

On July 1, 1946, the Communicable Disease Center was established as a small branch of the U.S. Public Health Service and was located on the sixth floor of the Volunteer Building on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, in what was once the heart of the malaria zone. The new agency was descended from several wartime agencies, including the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas, and the Office of Typhus Fever Control.[3]

With a budget at the time of about $1 million, 59 percent of its personnel were engaged in mosquito abatement using the insecticide DDT and habitat control with the objective of control and eradication of malaria in the United States.[4] Among its 369 employees, the main jobs at CDC were originally entomology and engineering. In CDC's initial years, more than six and a half million homes were sprayed. In 1946, there were only seven medical officers on duty and an early organization chart was drawn, somewhat fancifully, in the shape of a mosquito.

CDC founder Dr. Joseph Mountin continued to advocate for public health issues and to push for CDC to extend its responsibilities to many other communicable diseases. In 1947, CDC made a token payment of $10 to Emory University for 15 acres (61,000 m2) of land on Clifton Road in DeKalb County, the home of CDC headquarters today. CDC employees collected the money to make the purchase. The benefactor behind the “gift” was Robert Woodruff, Chairman of the Board of the Coca-Cola Company. Woodruff had a long-time interest in malaria control; it had been a problem in areas where he went hunting.

The mission of CDC expanded beyond its original focus on malaria to include sexually transmitted diseases when the Venereal Disease Division of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) was transferred to the CDC in 1957. Shortly thereafter, Tuberculosis Control was transferred (in 1960) to the CDC from PHS, and then in 1963 the Immunization program was established.[5] Currently the CDC focus has broadened to include chronic diseases, disabilities, injury control, workplace hazards, environmental health threats, and terrorism preparedness. CDC combats emerging diseases and other health risks, including birth defects, West Nile virus, obesity, avian, swine, and pandemic flu, E. coli, auto wrecks, and bioterrorism, to name a few. The organization would also prove to be an important factor in preventing the abuse of penicillin.

The organization was renamed to the Center for Disease Control in 1970, and an act of the United States Congress appended the words "and Prevention" to the name effective October 27, 1992; however, Congress directed that the initialism CDC be retained because of its name recognition.[6] CDC now operates under the Department of Health and Human Services umbrella.

In May 1994 the CDC admitted to have sent several biological warfare agents to Iraq, including Botulinum toxin, West Nile virus, Yersinia pestis and Dengue fever virus.[7]

The CDC has one of the few Biosafety Level 4 laboratories in the country, as well as one of only two official repositories of smallpox in the world. The second smallpox store resides at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in the Russian Federation.

The CDC has different categories for diseases posing a threat to the US:

[edit] Category A

[edit] Definition

The U.S. public health system and primary healthcare providers must be prepared to address various biological agents, including pathogens that are rarely seen in the United States. High-priority agents include organisms that pose a risk to national security because they:

  • can be easily disseminated or transmitted from person to person;
  • result in high mortality rates and have the potential for major public health impact;
  • might cause public panic and social disruption; and
  • require special action for public health preparedness.

Agents/Diseases

  • Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
  • Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin)
  • Plague (Yersinia pestis)
  • Smallpox (variola major)
  • Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
  • Viral hemorrhagic fevers (filoviruses [e.g., Ebola, Marburg] and arenaviruses [e.g., Lassa, Machupo])

[edit] Category B

[edit] Definition

Second highest priority agents include those that

  • are moderately easy to disseminate;
  • result in moderate morbidity rates and low mortality rates; and
  • require specific enhancements of CDC's diagnostic capacity and enhanced disease surveillance.

Agents/Diseases

[edit] Category C

[edit] Definition

Third highest priority agents include emerging pathogens that could be engineered for mass dissemination in the future because of:

  • availability;
  • ease of production and dissemination; and
  • potential for high morbidity and mortality rates and major health impact.

Agents

  • Emerging infectious diseases such as Nipah virus and hantavirus

[edit] Budget and workforce

CDC’s budget for 2008 is $8.8 billion. Today the staff numbers nearly 15,000 (including 6,000 contractors and 840 Commissioned Corps officers) in 170 occupations.[citation needed] Other CDC job titles include engineer, entomologist, epidemiologist, biologist, physician, veterinarian, behaviorial scientist, nurse, medical technologist, economist, Public Health Advisor, health communicator, toxicologist, chemist, computer scientist, and statistician.[8]

In addition to the Atlanta headquarters, the CDC has 10 other locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Those locations include Anchorage, Alaska; Cincinnati, Ohio; Fort Collins, Colorado; Hyattsville, Maryland; Morgantown, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Spokane, Washington; and Washington, D.C. In addition, CDC staff are located in state and local health agencies, quarantine/border health offices at ports of entry, and 45 countries around the world, from Angola to Zimbabwe.[citation needed]

More than a third of CDC’s employees are members of a racial or ethnic minority group, and women account for nearly 60 percent of CDC’s workforce. Nearly 40 percent of employees have a master’s degree; 25 percent have a Ph.D.; and 10 percent have medical degrees. The average age of a CDC worker is 46.[citation needed]

The CDC also conducts the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system.[9]

[edit] Organizational structure

On April 21, 2005 then-director of CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding, formally announced the reorganization of CDC to "confront the challenges of 21st-century health threats".[10] This reorganization has resulted in the following structure:[11]

CDC Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

The CDC Foundation operates independently from CDC as a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of Georgia. The creation of the Foundation was authorized by section 399F of the Public Health Service Act to support the mission of CDC in partnership with the private sector, including organizations, foundations, businesses, educational groups, and individuals.

[edit] Directors of the CDC

The President of the United States appoints the Director of the CDC. The appointment is automatic, and does not require approval by the Senate. The Director serves at the pleasure of the President, and may be fired at any time.[12][13] Fifteen Directors served between CDC's founding in 1942 and 2008:[14]

[edit] Data and survey systems

[edit] Publications and film

The CDC campus in Atlanta houses facilities for the research of extremely dangerous biological agents. This setting was featured in the Dustin Hoffman film Outbreak, although the location depicted in the film was supposed to be the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases bio-research facility. The CDC figures prominently in the book "Ready to Go: The History and Contributions of U.S. Public Health Advisors" by B.E. Meyerson, F.A. Martich and G.P. Naehr (ASHA, 2008). The CDC labs figure prominently in the books "The Demon in the Freezer" and "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston and "Virus Hunter" by C.J. Peters, former head of the Special Pathogens Branch at the CDC.[citation needed] The "Atlanta Plague center" which is in all likelihood a fictionalized version of the CDC appears in the Stephen King book The Stand.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Home Page. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  2. ^ "Druid Hills CDP, GA." United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.
  3. ^ http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/442.html Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention United States National Archives.
  4. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/history/index.htm#mcwa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The History of Malaria, an Ancient Disease. Atlanta, GA, 2004.
  5. ^ Beth E. Meyerson, Fred A. Martich, and Gerald P. Naehr (2008). Ready to Go: The History and Contributions of U.S. Public Health Advisors. (Research Triangle Park: American Social Health Association).
  6. ^ CDC (1992). "CDC: the nation's prevention agency". MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 41 (44): 833. PMID 1331740. http://cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00017924.htm. 
  7. ^ "The eleventh plague: the politics of biological and chemical warfare" (p. 84-86) by Leonard A. Cole (1993)
  8. ^ "CDC - Employment". http://www.cdc.gov/employment/menu_topjobs1.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-17. 
  9. ^ "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System". CDC: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/. Retrieved on 2006-08-05. 
  10. ^ "CDC Office of Director, The Futures Initiative". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/futures/g_letter_04-21-05.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-28. 
  11. ^ "Management Analysis and Services Office". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/maso/mab_Charts.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-28. 
  12. ^ a b Wilgoren, Debbi and Shear, Michael D. "Obama Chooses NYC Health Chief to Head CDC." Washington Post. May 16, 2009.
  13. ^ Etheridge, Elizabeth W. Sentinel for Health: A History of the Centers for Disease Control. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1992. ISBN 0520071077; Patel, Kant; Rushefsky, Mark E.; and McFarlane, Deborah R. The Politics of Public Health in the United States. M.E. Sharpe, 2005. ISBN 076561135X.
  14. ^ "Past CDC Directors/Administrators." Office of Enterprise Communication. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. February 19, 2009. Accessed 2009-05-19.
  15. ^ "CDC Data and Statistics". CDC - National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/scientific.htm. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  16. ^ "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System". CDC - National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  17. ^ "NCHS - Mortality Data - About the Mortality Medical Data System". CDC - National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/about.htm. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. 
  18. ^ "CDC - Publications". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec8021ee7a. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  19. ^ "State of CDC Report: Fiscal Year 2005". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/about/stateofcdc/index.htm. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  20. ^ "Programs In Brief: Home Page". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/programs/. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  21. ^ "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - MMWR". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  22. ^ "Emerging Infectious Diseases". CDC - National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  23. ^ "Chinese center for disease control and prevention". Chinese center for disease control and prevention. http://www.chinacdc.net.cn/n272562/. Retrieved on 2008-12-28. 

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