On Aug. 17, 1955, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the hiring of 48 temporary investigators through an earmarked congressional appropriation. The temporary investigators were hired to help prevent the black market diversion of the new Salk polio vaccine.

This action was part of a larger effort by the FDA to manage the rollout of the vaccine and address concerns arising from the “Cutter Incident”, where some batches of the vaccine were found to contain live viru

The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh, was announced April 12, 1955.