Will Changes at the US CDC Lead to Real Change?

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States' premier public health agency, traces its roots to World War II efforts to combat malaria among troops in the South. In 1942, the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas was established under the U.S. Public Health Service to spray homes with DDT and control mosquito habitats, protecting over 6.5 million residences by 1946. On July 1, 1946, it evolved into the Communicable Disease Center (CDC), founded in Atlanta, Georgia, by visionary leader Dr. Joseph W. Mountin. With a $1 million budget and 369 employees—mostly entomologists and engineers—it focused on malaria, typhus, and other infectious diseases. Atlanta's selection stemmed from the region's endemic malaria. In 1947, the CDC secured 15 acres on Clifton Road for $10 (a token payment to Emory University), laying the foundation for its current headquarters, which it fully occupied by 1960. The agency expanded rapidly. In 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)—a pioneering epidemiology training program—was launched amid Korean War biowarfare fears, training "disease detectives" worldwide. By 1957, it absorbed venereal disease control; in 1960, tuberculosis programs. Name changes reflected growth: National Communicable Disease Center (1967), Center for Disease Control (1970), and Centers for Disease Control (1980), acknowledging multiple divisions. The 1980s-1990s marked diversification. It integrated the National Center for Health Statistics (1987) and, via a 1992 congressional act, became the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasizing chronic diseases, injuries, environmental health, and terrorism preparedness. Achievements claimed by the agency include smallpox eradication (1980 collaboration), AIDS response (1981 onward), and global Field Epidemiology Training Programs, impacting over 18,000 professionals in 80+ countries. The agency itself does not operate clinics or run hospitals, so claims of directly fighting disease are overstated.

As of September 2025, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approximately 11,500 employees, following multiple rounds of layoffs earlier in the year that reduced the workforce from around 13,000. The agency's total annual budget for fiscal year 2025 is $9.222 billion. There has been a revolving door of directors and with each having just a few years at the helm, it is not surprising the agency has become a money pit with no real impact on MAHA.

L. Todd Wood at CDM asked Dr. McCullough to comment on the current CDC quagmire and what if anything, should Americans expect from their nine billion dollar annual investment. McCullough points out the CDC has no meaningful programs to investigate the etiology of or mitigate the autism epidemic nor has it launched any significant inquiry into the COVID-19 vaccine debacle.

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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

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