The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the United States' national public health agency, headquartered in Atlanta and charged with protecting health through work on disease, injury, disability, and broader public health threats. Founded on July 1, 1946, from a wartime malaria-control program, it grew from a mosquito-focused organization into a broad center covering infectious disease, chronic illness, environmental health, workplace safety, immunization, and emergency preparedness. Its history includes influential institutions such as the Epidemic Intelligence Service, international training programs, changing names that reflected its expanding mission, and major controversies, including the inherited Tuskegee syphilis study and later political conflicts over research, communication, and agency independence.