Office of Malaria Control in War Areas 1942-1944: Origins and Activities

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas.
• Description:
  The Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA), the World War II organization that was to become the forerunner of the present Centers for Disease Control (CDC), was established by the Public Health Service in 1942. The new organization, MCWA, was given the task of malaria control and prevention in areas around military ases and industrial areas concerned with production related to the war.
  
  Of all the diseases transmitted to man by insects and animals, malaria was the most serious threat to civilian and military health during World War II. Experts had predicted a cyclic upswing of malaria in the United States in 1941. Military and industrial mobilization, begun in 1940, could be expected to accelerate the predicted increase. Thousands of persons, both civilian and military, were moving into malarious areas in the Southeast.
  
  The experience of the Public Health Service in World War I and later showed that extraordinary measures would be needed to protect troops and the public from malaria. An existing cooperative program of the Public Health Service, the states, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) could not provide this protection, for by the spring of 1941 the WPA could not provide the necessary labor.
  
  To assist the Army in solving problems with malaria, the Public Health Service in the spring of 1941 detailed Dr. Louis L. Williams, Jr., its chief specialist in mosquito-borne diseases, as liaison officer to the Fourth Service Command of the Army in Atlanta, Georgia. Most malaria in the United States was in the area of this command. Dr. Williams drafted the plan of field organization for malaria control in military areas. The Public Health Service also assigned engineers and entomologists to certain state health departments to assist with malaria control in defense areas. Thus in 1941, with no funds as authority for organization, the Public Health Service did what was possible to provide protection against malaria.
  
  Finally, with strong support from the War Department, the Public Health Service received an appropriation in 1942 to operate a program for malaria control in war areas in 15 southeastern states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other Caribbean areas controlled by the United States.
  
  Thus was born the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA), with headquarters in Atlanta. Dr. Williams was in charge, assisted by sanitary engineer officer Mark D. Hollis, Harry G. Hanson, and Wesley Gilbertson. Later they were joined ,by Stanley B. Freeborn, a medical entomologist. The knowledge the Public Health Service already possessed on military and defense areas was an important factor in planning malaria control.
  
  Citation: "MCWA BRIEF HISTORY," The Global Health Chronicles, accessed September 3, 2021, https://globalhealthchronicles.org/items/show/5273.
  
  From the holdings of the National Archives at Atlanta.
  
  Source: David J. Sencer CDC Museum at the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Global Health Chronicles.
  
  f2db6171672f22ae498bc1d26f51f47f.pdf
  
  
• Subjects:
  Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, U.S. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, U.S. / History History, 20th Century Malaria Malaria / Prevention & Control Mosquito Control Public Health United States Government Agencies United States Government Agencies / Organization & Administration World War II
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• Pages in Document:
  6 numbered pages
• Citation:
  Citation: "MCWA BRIEF HISTORY," The Global Health Chronicles, accessed September 3, 2021, https://globalhealthchronicles.org/items/show/5273.
• Collection(s):
  David J. Sencer CDC Museum
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