[2][3] The agency's main goal is the protection of public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and worldwide.

The CDC also conducts research and provides information on non-infectious diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, and is a founding member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.

[10] The new agency was a branch of the U.S. Public Health Service and Atlanta was chosen as the location because malaria was endemic in the Southern United States.

Under Joseph Walter Mountin, the CDC continued to be an advocate for public health issues and pushed to extend its responsibilities to many other communicable diseases.

[7] In 1951, Chief Epidemiologist Alexander Langmuir's warnings of potential biological warfare during the Korean War spurred the creation of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) as a two-year postgraduate training program in epidemiology.

Thailand was the first FETP site created outside of North America and is found in numerous countries, reflecting CDC's influence in promoting this model internationally.

[20] Since the 1990s, the CDC focus has broadened to include chronic diseases, disabilities, injury control, workplace hazards, environmental health threats, and terrorism preparedness.

CDC combats emerging diseases and other health risks, including birth defects, West Nile virus, obesity, avian, swine, and pandemic flu, E. coli, and bioterrorism, to name a few.

[24] They included one of only two official repositories of smallpox in the world, with the other one located at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in the Russian Federation.

[32][33] Shortly thereafter, the CDC ordered its scientists to retract or pause the publication of all research which had been submitted or accepted for publication, but not yet published, which included any of the following banned terms: "Gender, transgender, pregnant person, pregnant people, LGBT, transsexual, non-binary, nonbinary, assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, biologically male, biologically female”.

[34] In January 2025, due to a pause in communications imposed by the second Trump administration at federal health agencies, publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) was halted, the first time that had happened since its inception in 1960.

[35] The CDC is organized into centers, institutes, and offices (CIOs), with each organizational unit implementing the agency's activities in a particular area of expertise while also providing intra-agency support and resource-sharing for cross-cutting issues and specific health threats.

[44] As of 2021,[update] CDC staff numbered approximately 15,000 personnel (including 6,000 contractors and 840 United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers) in 170 occupations.

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is composed of "boots-on-the-ground disease detectives" who investigate public health problems domestically and globally.

[47] When called upon by a governmental body, EIS officers may embark on short-term epidemiological assistance assignments, or "Epi-Aids", to provide technical expertise in containing and investigating disease outbreaks.

[52] Prior to January 20, 2025, it was a Senior Executive Service position[53] that could be filled either by a career employee, or as a political appointment that does not require Senate confirmation, with the latter method typically being used.

The FSAP is run jointly with an office within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, regulating agents that can cause disease in humans, animals, and plants.

[91] During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the CDC helped coordinate the return of two infected American aid workers for treatment at Emory University Hospital, the home of a special unit to handle highly infectious diseases.

[92] As a response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Congress passed a Continuing Appropriations Resolution allocating $30,000,000 towards CDC's efforts to fight the virus.

[107] CDC also runs a program called V-safe, a smartphone web application that allows COVID-19 vaccine recipients to be surveyed in detail about their health in response to getting the shot.

[111] In 2015, BMJ associate editor Jeanne Lenzer raised concerns that the CDC's recommendations and publications may be influenced by donations received through the Foundation, which includes pharmaceutical companies.

[126][127] In November 2020, NPR reported that an internal review document they obtained revealed that the CDC was aware that the first batch of tests which were issued in early January had a chance of being wrong 33 percent of the time, but they released them anyway.

[129] In July 2020, the Trump administration ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC and instead send all COVID-19 patient information to a database at the Department of Health and Human Services.

[140] In October 2020, it was disclosed that White House advisers had repeatedly altered the writings of CDC scientists about COVID-19, including recommendations on church choirs, social distancing in bars and restaurants, and summaries of public-health reports.

[143] In December 2021, following a request from the CEO of Delta Air Lines, CDC shortened its recommended isolation period for asymptomatic individuals infected with COVID-19 from 10 days to five.

"[156] In addition, Mark Rosenberg, the first director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, also questioned Redfield's leadership and his lack of defense of the science.

[159] In 2021, the CDC, then under the leadership of the Biden administration, received criticism for its mixed messaging surrounding COVID-19 vaccines, mask-wearing guidance, and the state of the pandemic.

[160][161] On February 1, 2025, the CDC ordered its scientists to retract any not yet published research they had produced which included any of the following banned terms: "Gender, transgender, pregnant person, pregnant people, LGBT, transsexual, non-binary, nonbinary, assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, biologically male, biologically female”.

[167] On February 4, Doctors for America filed a federal lawsuit against the CDC, Food and Drug Administration, and Department of Health and Human Services, asking the removed websites to be put back online.

While the article did not claim that such a scenario was possible, it did use the popular culture appeal as a means of urging citizens to prepare for all potential hazards, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods.