ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Case OfficerMiddle East, Modern U.S. Security Policy and InterventionsNational Security Advisor, United StatesNixon Administration (1969–1974), United States NationalSecurity PolicyCase Officer.SEE Intelligence Officer.❚ BRIAN HOYLECDC (United States Centersfor Disease Controland Prevention)CDC is an acronym for Centers for Disease Control andPrevention. The center, which is headquartered in Atlanta,Georgia, is one of the predominant public health institutionsin the United States and in the world. The CDC servesUnited States national security by monitoring the incidenceof infectious disease in the U.S. (and around theworld), and through the development and implementationof disease control procedures. As part of this mandate,the CDC is one of the few facilities in North Americathat houses a biological laboratory capable of handlingvery infectious and lethally-dangerous microorganismssuch as the Ebola virus and Bacillus anthracis, the bacteriumthat causes anthrax.The CDC is the pre-eminent institution in the UnitedStates dedicated to the prevention of disease, and is aglobal leader in public health. In addition to the Atlantaheadquarters, the CDC has facilities in San Juan, PuertoRico, and in eight other locations in the continental UnitedStates. The U.S. locations are Anchorage (Alaska), Cincinnati(Ohio), Fort Collins (Colorado), Morgantown (WestVirginia), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Research TrianglePark (North Carolina), Spokane (Washington), and WashingtonD.C.Approximately 8,500 people work at the CDC in 170occupations pertaining to public health research, administration,monitoring, and education. CDC personnel arealso seconded to other international health agencies suchas the World Health Organization and to state and localhealth agencies in response to disease outbreaks.The CDC is organized into 11 national centers that areconcerned with health care and disease prevention. Thenational centers study:❚ Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities,❚ Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,❚ Environmental Health (that includes the Office ofGenomics and Disease Prevention),❚ Health Statistics❚ HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), STD (SexuallyTransmitted Disease), and TB (Tuberculosis)Prevention,❚ Infectious Diseases,❚ Injury Prevention and Control,❚ Immunization Program,❚ Occupational Safety and Health,❚ Epidemiology Program, and,❚ Public Health Practice Program.At the beginning of 2003, the CDC enters its 57th yearof existence. The institution was established on July 1,1946 in Atlanta. At that time the acronym CDC stood forCommunicable Disease Center. The CDC replaced anothercenter known as the Malaria Control in War Areas. Theformer institution had been established as part of thePublic Health Service to rid the southern United States ofmalaria during the years of World War II. As well, thecenter had assumed the responsibility for keeping theregion free of murine typus fever. The establishment ofthe Communicable Disease Center continued these functionswhile expanding to include all diseases that could betransmitted from person to person.The institute’s founding director was Dr. Joseph M.Mountin. In its early days, the center was small and researchand surveillance programs were still geared towardsinsect-transmitted diseases such as malaria. Afteran aggressive campaign of expansion by Mountin, however,which was intended to entrench CDC’s position andvalue to the country, the center became the nationalagency for epidemiology (the study of the origin andspread of diseases).The Korean War in the 1950s solidified the center’svalue as an epidemiological resource. The EpidemiologicalIntelligence Service (EIS) was created during that time,with the mandate to protect U.S. citizens from diseasesthat originated in other regions of the world. The EISremains an important part of today’s CDC, especiallybecause of the recognition, in the 1950s, that biologicalwarfare was an emerging threat to national security.Two other events in the 1950s besides the Koreanconflict increased the national importance of the CDC, andserved to ensure that the funding of the center continued.First, a national campaign to inoculate children with therecently approved Salk polio vaccine led to a spate ofpoliomyelitis cases. A Polio Surveillance Unit was establishedat CDC. The unit quickly determined that a contaminatedbatch of the vaccine has been the problem. Theirfindings allowed the contaminated units of vaccine to bewithdrawn from use, and the inoculation program continuedwith confidence. In retrospect, the continuation of thevaccination campaign has been invaluable, since it waspivotal in the eradication of polio, and since it instilled theconfidence in vaccines in general that helped ensure the168 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security