Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention technician using a pH meter oral polio vaccine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test hematology
Read Next
The United States Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.
14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered
Bar graph of the United States Death Toll during major events. Infogram chart.
U.S. Death Toll During Major Events
People wearing surgical masks (also called face mask or medical masks or safety masks) walk through the city center of Milan, Italy on Feb. 23, 2020. Coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic
How Do Face Masks Control the Spread of Disease?
The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.
26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History
Groups of depositors in front of the closed American Union Bank, New York City. April 26, 1932. Great Depression run on bank crowd
Causes of the Great Depression
Discover
Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)
8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) assists public health partners in responding to disease outbreaks. The EOC played an important role during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, which affected thousands of people in the United States in the first months after the disease emerged in China.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

United States agency
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: CDC, Communicable Disease Center
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Date:
1946 - present
Headquarters:
Atlanta
Areas Of Involvement:
public health
preventive medicine
Related People:
David Satcher
See all related content

News •

Trump's Former CDC Chief Suggests US Origin for COVID: 'Can't Prove That' • Nov. 19, 2024, 9:52 PM ET (Newsweek)
Here's how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to remake the nation's top health agencies • Nov. 15, 2024, 9:23 PM ET (AP)
What to know about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health secretary • Nov. 14, 2024, 6:27 PM ET (AP)
Trump chooses former Rep. Doug Collins to run Veterans Affairs • Nov. 14, 2024, 6:14 PM ET (AP)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views • Nov. 14, 2024, 6:10 PM ET (AP)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, headquartered in Atlanta, whose mission is centred on preventing and controlling disease and promoting environmental health and health education in the United States. Part of the Public Health Service, it was founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center to fight malaria and other infectious diseases. As its scope widened to polio, smallpox, and disease surveillance, the name was changed to the Center for Disease Control and later pluralized.

Today the CDC subsumes health statistics, infectious diseases, and environmental health; a National Immunization Program; and an Office on Smoking and Health. It consolidates disease-control data, health promotion, disease prevention and preparedness, and public health programs, and it provides grants for studies and programs, health information to health care professionals and the public, and publications on epidemiology. It is among the world’s foremost epidemiological centres.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers.