The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formed in 1946, is the leading national public health institute of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Its main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and internationally. 1940s 1946 – The Communicable Disease Center is organized in Atlanta, Georgia on July 1 1947 – In San Francisco, CDC took over the Public Health Service Plague Laboratory, thus acquiring an Epidemiology Division. 1948 – CDC gained worldwide recognition for the quality and quantity of its contributions to the taxonomy of the Enterobacteriaceae. 1949 – As a result of the Cold War, CDC initiated programs to fight biological warfare, "an exotic new threat to health." 1950s 1950 – Fifteen CDC staffers conducted the first investigation of an epidemic of polio in Paulding County, Ohio. 1951 – The Epidemic Intelligence Service was established to help protect against biological warfare and manmade epidemics. 1952 – Surgeon General Dr. Leonard A. Scheele reported that the Communicable Disease Center was ready to combat possible biological warfare. 1953 – CDC reported first case of rabies in a bat. 1954 – Alexander D. Langmuir, M.D., M.P.H., set up a leptospirosis laboratory in Jacksonville, Florida. 1955 – CDC established the Polio Surveillance Program. 1956 – Dr. William Cherry found the first practical use for the fluorescent technique, which was successful in identifying pathogens that might be used in biological warfare. 1957 – National guidelines for influenza vaccine were developed. 1958 – A CDC team traveled overseas, for the first time, to Southeast Asia to respond to an epidemic of cholera and smallpox. 1959 – Dr. Robert Kissling developed the fluorescent antibody test for rabies, first used in a field trial with 100 percent accuracy. 1960s 1960 – The Tuberculosis Program moved from the Public Health Service to CDC. 1961 – CDC took over publication of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 1962 – CDC played a key role in one of the greatest triumphs of public health: the eradication of smallpox. 1963 – CDC tested the newly developed jet injector vaccine for smallpox. 1964 – The first Surgeon General's report linking smoking to lung cancer was released. It stated that "cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States