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The
criteria for eradication as put forth by the National Malaria Society
was: "Malaria may be assumed to be no longer endemic in any given
area when no primary indigenous case has occurred there for three years".
The National Malaria Eradication Program, a cooperative undertaking
by State and local health agencies of 13 Southeastern States and the
Communicable Disease Center of the U. S. Public Health Service, originally
proposed by Dr. L. L. Williams, commenced operations on July 1, 1947.
The program consisted primarily of DDT application to the interior surfaces
of rural homes or entire premises in counties where malaria was reported
to have been prevalent in recent years. By the end of 1949, over 4,650,000
house spray applications had been made. Total elimination of transmission
was slowly achieved. By 1951, CDC gradually withdrew from active participation
in the operational phases of the program and shifted to its interest
to surveillance, and in 1952, CDC participation in operations ceased
altogether.
A major commitment
was to the malaria control and assessment activities associated with the
Tennessee Valley Authority. The advent of World War II necessitated the
control of malaria in and around the many military bases located in malarious
areas, primarily in Southeastern U. S. These efforts were so successful
that at the end of the war and the founding of CDC, one of the initial
tasks was to oversee the completion of the elimination of malaria as a
major public health problem. In 1949, the country was declared free of
malaria as a significant public health problem.
The role
of CDC became one of surveillance within the U. S. and of assistance in
the world-wide efforts to eliminate or control malaria in the economically
underdeveloped areas of the world.
Malaria
has been endemic in the US until the late 1940's. Most of the transmission
occurred in the southeastern states. (From this derives the fact that
CDC, originally derived from malaria control operations, is located in
Atlanta, Georgia).
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Malaria Morbidity and Mortality Rates in All States Reporting Cases and Deaths During 1920-1946 Inclusive
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Distribution
of malaria in the United States, 1882-1935
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Control
efforts conducted by the state and local health departments, supported
by the federal government, resulted in the disease being eradicated by
1949. Such measures included drainage, removal of mosquito breeding sites,
and spraying (occasionally from aircrafts) of insecticides.
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Aircraft
spraying insecticide, 1920's
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Drainage
activities, Virginia, 1920's
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Page last modified : April 23, 2004
Content source: Division of Parasitic Diseases
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (ZVED)
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