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The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s
1946

The "Communicable Disease Center," or CDC, opens in the old Office of Malaria Control in War Areas in downtown Atlanta. Part of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), the CDC has a mission to work with state and local health officials in the fight against malaria, still prevalent in several Southern states, typhus, and other communicable diseases.

1947

A token payment of $10 is made for 15 acres on Clifton Road in Atlanta, the home of the CDC headquarters today.

1951

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is established. EIS quickly becomes the nation's --- and world's --- response team for a wide range of health emergencies. Its young, energetic medical officers make house calls around the world.

CDC broadens its focus to include polio and establishes closer working relationships with the states. National disease surveillance systems begin.

1955

The Polio Surveillance Unit is established. Ten years later, CDC assumes PHS responsibility for the control of polio; the disease almost disappears from the Western Hemisphere in 1991.

1961

CDC takes over publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which publishes important data on deaths and certain diseases from every state every week. The first cases of a new disease, later called AIDS, were reported in the MMWR in 1981.

1966

CDC launches the Smallpox Eradication Program to eradicate smallpox and control measles in 20 African countries. Through CDC's efforts, smallpox, a disease that killed millions of people over the centuries, was eradicated from the world in the late 1970's.

1970

The Communicable Disease Center renamed the Center for Disease Control to reflect a broader mission in preventive health.

1973

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which protects Americans from on-the-job hazards, becomes part of CDC.

1976

CDC investigates an outbreak of illness in Philadelphia now called Legionnaire's disease. The following year, CDC isolates the causative agent for this disease: Legionella pneumophilia.

1977

The last case of endemic smallpox in the world is reported in Somalia.

1978

CDC opens an expanded, maximum-containment laboratory to handle viruses too dangerous to handle in an ordinary laboratory.

1979

The last case of wild polio virus in the United States is reported.

1980

The agency is renamed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to reflect a change in organizational structure.

1981

With the California Department of Health, CDC reports the first cases of an illness which later will be called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and organizes a task force of personnel from each of its centers in response to evidence of an epidemic. AIDS research and prevention efforts continue today.

1983

CDC establishes a Violence Epidemiology Branch to apply public health prevention strategies to the problems of child abuse, homicide, and suicide.

1986

The Office of Smoking and Health, which targets the nation's primary preventable health problem, becomes part of CDC.

1987

CDC reports a strong association between Reye Syndrome and aspirin, noting that 90 percent of cases could be preventable by reducing aspirin treatment of children.

1988

CDC establishes the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to target chronic disease, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

1991

CDC begins development of a national strategic plan for the early detection and control of breast and cervical cancers among all American women.

CDC conducts the first and largest scale health survey to employ computer-assisted interviewing.

1992

CDC adds Prevention to its name to reflect a broader role and vision, but retains the initials, CDC.

1993

CDC launches the National Childhood Immunization campaign.

In May, an outbreak of an unexplained pulmonary illness occurred in the southwestern United States, in an area shared by Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah known as "The Four Corners." Virologists at CDC used several tests, including new methods to pinpoint virus genes at the molecular level, and were able to link the pulmonary syndrome with a virus, in particular a previously unknown type of hantavirus. The new virus was called Muerto Canyon virus-later changed to Sin Nombre virus (SNV)-and the new disease caused by the virus was named hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS.

1995

CDC begins publishing the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, a peer-reviewed publication established expressly to promote the recognition of new and reemerging infectious diseases around the world.

CDC goes onsite in Zaire to investigate an outbreak of deadly Ebola virus.

CDC recommends AZT therapy for HIV-infected pregnant women to reduce transmission of the virus to their babies.

1996

CDC celebrates 50 years of success as the Nation's Prevention Agency and a first-rate response team for a wide range of health emergencies both here at home and abroad.

1997

CDC participates in the Presidential Apology on the Tuskegee Study - a nationally televised White House event - to redress the wrongs of the past and help restore the confidence of Americans in their government.

CDC assists in the investigation of a new strain of flu in humans in Hong Kong; 18 cases and six deaths due to influenza A (H5N1) are reported.

CDC released the first annual report of pregnancy success rates for fertility clinics in the United States. The report was mandated by the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act passed by Congress in 1992. The goal of "Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates" is to help consumers make informed decisions.

1998

The first Surgeon General's report to focus on tobacco use among minorities in the United States is released. "Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups" provides a single, comprehensive source of data on tobacco use and its physical effects among African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.

1999

For the first time, CDC names a campus and a building after a person. The Edward R. Roybal campus and the Edward R. Roybal Laboratory are named after Congressman Edward R. Roybal, a former public health worker, who secured $100 million in funding for CDC buildings and research during his career.


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This page last reviewed Monday, October 22, 2001
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