press releases

The U.S. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) Celebrates 60 Years

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, July 14, celebrated its 60th Anniversary, marking over half a century of leading scientific discoveries and public health service in the U.S. and around the world. The anniversary celebration in Zambia, held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka, was jointly organized by the CDC Zambia office and the National AIDS Council (NAC). In attendance were U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez, Dr. Ben Chirwa, Director General of the NAC, and Dr. Marc Bulterys, Director of CDC in Zambia.

Speaking during the anniversary celebration, prominent U.S. scientist, Dr. Harold Jaffe, who served CDC for 27 years, spoke of the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and internationally, key lessons learned, and how these could enhance current efforts in HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention in Zambia. Dr. Jaffe was a key member of a CDC task force created in 1981 to study a new disease, later known as AIDS. From 2001 to 2004, Dr. Jaffe served as Director of the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention at CDC. The Center became a major partner in implementing President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, including in Zambia.

The CDC office in Zambia was established in 2001 to bring technical expertise and program support in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, TB and related health concerns. In 2005-2006, nearly 150,000 Zambians were reached through CDC Zambia-supported HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services.

Working closely with the Zambian Government and many cooperating partners, CDC-Zambia supports many services in the health sector, including rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART), pediatric HIV diagnosis and ART and the innovative continuity of care electronic medical record system using smart cards.

CDC has also recently provided technical assistance to the GRZ in polio and measles eradication efforts, cholera outbreak investigation, and avian influenza preparedness, in close collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

For more information on CDC, see http://www.cdc.gov
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CDC Milestones

1946 The "Communicable Disease Center," or CDC, opens in the old Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA) 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, typhus, and other communicable diseases.
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).
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.
1978 CDC opens an expanded, maximum-containment laboratory to handle viruses too dangerous to handle in an ordinary laboratory.
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.
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.
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 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.