On Dec. 2, 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, activated CDC’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to strengthen the agency’s partnership engagement through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which was committed to completing the eradication of polio.

CDC had responded to more than 60 public health threats from its EOC since 2003. These threats included natural disasters, foodborne disease outbreaks, environmental emergencies, and infectious diseases.