THE ISSUE:

In 1947, the Center for Communicable Diseases was established in Atlanta, Ga. for the express purpose of addressing malaria and yellow fever, which had risen to the level of epidemic in the United States. Sixty years later, malaria is virtually non-existent in the U.S., there hasn’t been a case of yellow fever in decades and the CDC has gone on to a wide range of disease control efforts.

In the developing world, however, malaria continues to be a leading cause of death, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and among pregnant women and young children. Globally, yellow fever claims thousands of lives each year, and they are just the tip of the infectious iceberg. Clearly, disease control in one part of the world does not translate into global control, and where infectious diseases persist, they provide the potential for once again spreading everywhere.

Infectious diseases have been a part of the human existence from the very start, and have had a major influence on the trend of human health and development throughout history. With the advent of basic medicines such as penicillin, as well as improved personal hygiene practices, the rapid and widespread transmission of many infectious diseases has been curbed, but they certainly haven’t been stopped. Control of infectious diseases in affluent countries and an aging population have shifted the visible disease burden to the point where chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes dominate the research and intervention agendas of the industrialized world. However, infectious diseases continue to be the leading killer of the world’s poorest. AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria claim a combined six million lives each year. Respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and measles cause an additional six and a half million deaths.

Official website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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