The History of the American CDC

The CDC has been all over the news recently.  During this uncertain time in American public health, they are the group that a majority of Americans look to for advice on how to keep themselves and their families as healthy as possible.  But how did this iconic organization come about? It took another disease-Malaria to be precise. 
Malaria was relatively common in the Southern United States before the 1940s.  There were a lot of mosquitos due to the hot, damp climate and the malaria parasite liked that climate as well.  This caused issues for the military because soldiers in southern training facilities would get malaria.  The US was busy with World War 2 and malaria wasn't what they wanted to worry about.  This lead to the creation of the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas, which is the predecessor to the CDC.  The office was located in Atlanta due to the proximity to areas with a lot of malaria.  The office was very successful and in 1946, the CDC opened its new office in Atlanta.  The CDC began its huge malaria eradication program in July 1947.  This was a collaboration between many southern states being directed by the CDC and they started spraying DDT everywhere.  With a combination of DDT, insecticide, and drainage, malaria was declared to be eradicated from the US in 1951. 
The CDC then shifted away from active operations and towards surveillance of disease, including AIDS.  The first CDC report on AIDS was in 1981 talking about a rare lung infection in 5 gay men.  The report noted unusual infections in all of the men that suggested that their immune systems weren't working properly. The CDC noticed more and more different people were having infections that indicated a suppressed immune system.  In 1982, the CDC used the term "AIDS" for the first time and released the first case definition for the disease. The CDC continued to note the strange pattern of the spread of AIDS and identified the methods of spread, which did not include air or casual contact.  AIDS is still present in the US today and the CDC continues to track the spread of the disease, which has stabilized somewhat due to awareness and effective treatment.
Today, the CDC has an important job in the US.  They lead many awareness campaigns regarding hygiene and preventing diseases from spreading.  They also track seasonal illnesses like the flu and monitor to ensure that novel or rare diseases don't show up in the country.  They are still regarded as a respectable group with skilled epidemiologists and useful tools and the organization is crucial to protecting the health of Americans.

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/about/history/index.html
http://www.malaria.com/questions/malaria-southern-united-states
https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/history/elimination_us.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/todaysepidemic-508.pdf
https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline