The CDC is recognized around the world as a leading force in public health expertise. Dr. Joseph W. Mountin, founder of the original Communicable Disease Center, was a visionary public health leader with high hopes for this small and, at that time, relatively insignificant branch of the Public Health Service. The agency, which grew out of the Malaria Control in War Areas, occupied one floor of the Volunteer Building on Peachtree Street near downtown Atlanta and had fewer than 400 employees. The new institution expanded its focus to include all communicable diseases and to provide practical help to state health departments when requested.
Although medical epidemiologists were scarce in those early years, disease surveillance became the cornerstone of CDC′s mission of service to the states and over time changed the practice of public health. While there have been many significant accomplishments since CDC′s humble beginnings, the following highlights some of CDC′s important achievements and the visionary leadership that recognized a future for CDC full of possibilities for improving public health worldwide.
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