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History | Domestic Activities | International Activities | Research
History
CDC's
origins are closely linked to malaria control activities in the United
States.
The Communicable Disease Center was
established in 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia. It succeeded the Office of Malaria
Control in War Areas (MCWA), which was charged with malaria control
in the southeastern US during World War II. A few years following CDC's
inception, malaria was eliminated from the US, and CDC has now greatly
expanded its public health goals. However, malaria remains a major field
of activities at CDC.
See
also: CDC's Origins and Malaria
Domestic
Activities
Malaria
was eliminated as a major public health problem in the United States in
the late 1940's. However, several hundred cases of malaria occur annually
in the United States, mostly in returning travelers and immigrants ("imported"
malaria). Anopheles mosquitoes capable of transmitting malaria
("vectors") exist in the United States. Thus, there is a constant
risk that malaria transmission can resume in the United States.
CDC
domestic activities include:
-
Epidemiologic surveillance
- Investigations
of outbreaks of locally transmitted malaria and of other occurrences
(e.g., transfusion malaria)
- Advice
to international travelers
- Consultations
with clinicians
- Advice
to blood collection centers
- Diagnostic
assistance.
More:
Domestic Activities
International
Activities
Malaria
remains a major health problem in developing countries, and CDC participates
actively in global efforts against malaria through:
-
Work in malaria-endemic countries with the Ministry of Health and local
disease prevention and control partners (e.g., the national malaria
control program, the reproductive health program responsible for maternal
health, the child health program)
- Work
in malaria-endemic regional settings (e.g., the Mekong River region;
the Amazon River basin region)
- Work
with key multilateral and bilateral Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partners
(e.g., World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' Children's
Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID).
CDC currently has staff posted at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; UNICEF; and the
World Bank; as well as in three African malaria-endemic countries
(Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania). Their work spans the spectrum of
policy development, program guidance and support, scientific research,
and monitoring and evaluation of progress toward RBM goals. CDC staff
also provides technical assistance to several malaria endemic countries
to strengthen their control activities.
More:
International Activities
Research
The
CDC malaria research program aims to improve our understanding of malaria
and to yield better methods for fighting the disease. Research often is
performed in collaboration with other institutions and combines field
and laboratory activities.
Field investigations provide insights in mechanisms of transmission and
host responses. They often yield specimens that provide valuable information
when studied further in laboratories in the United States and overseas.
The
laboratories (augmented by insectaries and animal facilities) conduct
more basic studies, whose findings can be in turn verified or expanded
during field investigations. The CDC malaria research laboratories serve
as a WHO Collaborating Center for malaria.
More: Research
Page last modified : June 2, 2006
Content source: Division of Parasitic Diseases
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (ZVED)
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