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Volume 12, Number 10—October 2006
Letter

Alex Langmuir and CDC

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To the Editor: We were surprised and disappointed by the brevity of your article commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Communicable Disease Center (CDC) (1). We realize that the accomplishments of the center and its derivative agencies are vast and that to give them full recognition would require far more space in Emerging Infectious Diseases than might be feasible. Nevertheless, your article that appropriately identified Joe Mountin as the administrative "father" of the center omitted any mention of Alex Langmuir, arguably the most influential of the infectious disease leaders over the years. Langmuir's creation and direction of the Epidemic Intelligence Service epitomized CDC's role in infectious diseases. His legacy deserves recognition in any chronicle of CDC, no matter how short.

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Warren Winkelstein Jr.* and Arthur L. Reingold*
Author affiliations: *University of California School of Public Health, Berkeley, California, USA

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References

  1. Popovic  T, Snider  DE Jr. 60 years of progress—CDC and infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12:11601.PubMedGoogle Scholar

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Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid1210.060826

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In response: We thank Drs. Winkelstein and Reingold (1) for their comment regarding our article on the 60 years of CDC's progress in the area of infectious diseases. We certainly agree that Dr. Alexander Langmuir has made enormous contributions to this area, which we fully respect, We further agree that a more comprehensive approach would have required far more space than allotted for these types of commentaries. Allow us to emphasize that the omission of Dr. Langmuir and many other outstanding colleagues was not an oversight but an effort on our part to abbreviate an exceptionally long list of these deserving persons. We are looking forward to opportunities to provide a more comprehensive overview in which many of them will be appropriately recognized.

Tanja Popovic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Mailstop D50, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; email: txp1@cdc.gov
Tanja Popovic* *Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

References

  1. Winkelstein  W Jr, Reingold  AL. Alex Langmuir and CDC [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12:1619.PubMedGoogle Scholar

Table of Contents – Volume 12, Number 10—October 2006

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Page created: November 10, 2011
Page updated: November 10, 2011
Page reviewed: November 10, 2011
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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