CDC Timeline 1990s

Take a minute to review many of CDC's momentous contributions to public health since it was organized in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center.

2010s |  2000s  |  1990s  |  1980s |  1970s  |  1960s  |  1950s  |  1940s

1990s

• 1999

  

  • CDC launches National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (now the Strategic National Stockpile),  a stockpile of drugs, vaccines, and other medical products and supplies, to provide for the emergency health security of the US and its territories
  • Establishes CDC’s Laboratory Response Network, an integrated national and international network of laboratories that are fully equipped to respond quickly to acts of chemical or biological threats, emerging infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies
  • West Nile virus identified in New York City and response.
• 1998

  • For the first time since 1981, AIDS is diagnosed in more African-American and Hispanic men than in gay white men
  • The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Surveillance Network is created in October and develops a multisource surveillance methodology to determine the prevalence of FAS within certain regions of the U. S.
  • MMWR publishes the first Surgeon General’s report focusing on tobacco use among ethnic and racial minorities
  • Cereal grains enriched with folic acid by federal mandate to reduce birth defects.
• 1997

  

  • CDC participates in the nationally-televised White House event of the Presidential Apology for the Tuskegee Study
  • CDC convenes a group of organizations dedicated to advocacy and education about folic acid-preventable birth defects. This group becomes the National Council on Folic Acid (NCFA)
  • Fenfluramine (fen-phen) diet pill deaths and heart valve association identified.
• 1996

  

  • CDC establishes the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)
  • NIOSH issues findings and recommendations for preventing workplace homicides and assaults
  • CDC finds measurable levels of serum cotinine, a biomarker of tobacco smoke exposure, in the blood of 88 percent of American nonsmokers
  • PulseNet, a national network of laboratories, launches to help detect and define outbreaks using the DNA of the foodborne bacteria making people sick
  • Prevention Effectiveness Program and Guide for Community Preventive Services initiated
• 1995

  

  • CDC epidemiologists investigate an outbreak of deadly Ebola virus in Zaire
  • CDC recommends offering HIV testing to all pregnant women, and AZT therapy for HIV-infected pregnant women to reduce transmission of the virus to their babies
  • Emerging Infections Programs (EIP)  are established in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 1994 strategy, Addressing Emerging Infectious Disease Threats: A Prevention Strategy for the United States 
• 1994

  • Polio elimination is certified in the Americas
  • Vaccines for Children Program established.
  • CDC and the National Institute of Justice collaborate to create the National Violence against Women Survey. The survey, conducted in 1995-1996 will provide the first national data on the incidence and prevalence of violence against women
• 1993

  

  • MMWR reports on an outbreak of a mysterious illness in the southwestern U.S. Later recognized as Hantavirus infection. The deadly virus is transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, and saliva. CDC responds by developing prevention and information materials for the disease
  • Fatal respiratory syndrome associated with Hantavirus identified in southwest U.S.
  • CDC establishes the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Unit in the Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the National Center for Environmental Health
  • National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) is established
  • H5N1 avian flu outbreak spread to humans and response.
• 1992

  • The agency is renamed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reflect a broader role and vision. The agency is asked by Congress to continue using the initials “CDC”
  • CDC recommends that women who have had a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect (NTD) consume 400 milligrams of the B-vitamin folic acid daily, prior to pregnancy, to prevent the recurrence of NTDs
  • National Center for Injury Prevention and Control established.
• 1991

  

  • CDC establishes the Division of Oral Health to expand efforts to prevent oral disease and conditions
  • Reports a sharp increase in cases of tuberculosis in the United States, linked to HIV infection and AIDS
  • Begins development of a national strategic plan for early detection and control of breast and cervical cancers among all American women
• 1990

  

  • CDC reports on the viral agents of gastroenteritis, which causes diarrhea. Before 1990, severe diarrhea was a serious public health threat causing five to ten million deaths worldwide. Identifying viral agents as the cause of gastroenteritis enables CDC to determine the necessary measures to prevent and manage outbreaks of severe diarrhea
  • Develops guidelines for Telecommunications Systems for Surveillance, providing a systematic framework for public health surveillance data reported to CDC
  • Reports possible transmission of HIV to a patient during invasive dental procedures
  • Conducts the first national Youth Risk Behavior Survey to measure the prevalence of priority risk behaviors among adolescents CDC reports a large outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. This outbreak creates significant public health and economic burdens across Texas, California, and Pennsylvania
  • CDC and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) develop the Safe Water System (SWS), protecting communities from contaminated water by promoting behavior change and providing affordable and sustainable solutions

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