The EIS is operated by the CDC 's Center for Surveillance , Epidemiology , and Laboratory Services ( CSELS ) , in the Office of Public Health Scientific Services ( OPHSS ) . Persons participating in the program , known colloquially as " '' ' disease detectives ' '' " , are formally called " EIS officers " ( or EIS fellows ) by the CDC and have been dispatched to investigate hundreds of possible epidemics created by natural and artificial causes . Since 1951 , more than 3,000 EIS officers have been involved in domestic and international response efforts , including the anthrax , hantavirus , West Nile virus in the United States , and the 2014 &ndash; 16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa
anthrax
2001 anthrax attacks
Epidemic Intelligence Service