In 1994, CDC began working with other federal agencies, state and local health departments, and other partners to strengthen our nation's capacity to recognize and respond to emerging infectious disease threats through implementation of the CDC plan, Addressing Emerging Infectious Disease Threats: A Prevention Strategy for the United States.

Although this effort is well underway, fulfilling CDC's vision of a safer world in the next millennium requires long-term commitment and sustained effort. The second phase of the CDC effort, Preventing Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Strategy for the 21st Century (available on the Internet at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/emergplan/), was released in October 1998.  It takes into account recent challenges and builds on the experience, success, and knowledge gained from the initial plan.

The purpose of the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) program is to build on this effort by assisting state and eligible local public health agencies to strengthen their basic epidemiologic and laboratory capacity to address infectious disease threats.  The ELC program focuses on notifiable diseases, food-, water-, and vector-borne diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, and drug-resistant infections. It is intended to support activities that enhance the ability of a program to

• identify and monitor the occurrence of infectious diseases of public health importance in a community
• characterize disease determinants
• identify and respond to disease outbreaks and other infectious disease emergencies
• use public health data for priority setting and policy development
• assess the effectiveness of activities.

Strengthening collaboration between laboratory and epidemiology practice is a crucial component of this program.

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