The CDC and the Coronavirus Pandemic

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You may have heard of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

The CDC is a part of the U.S. government that helps keep people healthy and safe from diseases. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the CDC monitors health trends, researches diseases, and provides guidelines to prevent illness.

One of its key jobs is tracking and controlling disease outbreaks. If you’ve ever heard a news report about a food recall or a virus spreading, there’s a good chance the CDC was behind the investigation.

For example, in 2018, the CDC warned about romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli bacteria. It quickly advised people to throw out the lettuce, preventing more people from getting sick.

The CDC and COVID-19

In early 2020, the CDC overcame one of its biggest challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19, short for COronaVIrus Disease 2019, is caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. While coronaviruses are a group of viruses, COVID-19 was new to humans, making it especially dangerous.

The first cases appeared in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Scientists believe the virus may have come from animals, possibly bats or pangolins, and then jumped to humans.

The person who first got sick is known as patient zero, and the virus spread rapidly from there.

Epidemic, Pandemic, or Endemic?

Diseases are classified based on how far they spread.

Endemic: a disease that exists in a particular area or population, like the flu.

Epidemic: an outbreak that spreads through multiple communities at once.

Pandemic: a disease that spreads worldwide.

COVID-19 started as an outbreak in Wuhan, became an epidemic in China, and then escalated into a pandemic, affecting nearly every country.

How Does a Virus Spread So Quickly?

Imagine you’re at an airport, and someone sneezes. If they have a contagious virus, tiny droplets carrying the virus land on surfaces and in the air. Someone else touches a contaminated surface or breathes in the virus—and just like that, another person is infected.

Air travel made it easy for COVID-19 to spread worldwide in just weeks.

Watch the following video for a better understanding of exponential growth.

Governments took steps to slow the spread. Many places required quarantines—separating people who were sick or exposed to the virus from healthy individuals. Wearing masks, social distancing, and handwashing also helped reduce infections.

By 2023, the World Health Organization declared the pandemic officially over, but COVID-19 still exists. It is considered endemic today, meaning it will always be around, like the flu.

Head to the Got It? section to review.