Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGovernment

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States under the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mandate is to protect public health and safety by controlling and preventing infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards, and environmental health threats. Established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, it succeeded the wartime Office of Malaria Control in War Areas to combat malaria across the American South. Over subsequent decades, the agency broadened its scope to global disease surveillance, officially adding 'Prevention' to its name in 1992.