Which U.S. federal agency began as the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas?

• A. The United States Public Health Service (USPHS)
• B. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• C. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• D. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Answer: (D)

A lot of major public health institutions grow out of wartime health programs that expand their focus over time. The Office of Malaria Control in War Areas was created to combat malaria in U.S. war zones during World War II. After the war, its work broadened beyond malaria to control a range of communicable diseases, and in 1946 that office evolved into the Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta. This organization later became what we now know as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The other agencies listed have different origins: the Public Health Service is the broader umbrella under which agencies operate, NIH focuses on medical research, and EPA was established later to regulate environmental protection. So the agency that began as the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas is the one that became the CDC.