stephen ostroff: cdc functions as the doctor for the community or for the public at large, and so we monitor health status in a much broader sense. our job is to watch the health of the american public, and when we see disturbances in the health of the american public, when we see diseases, our job is to try to figure out why they occur and how to both control them-- but more importantly, to prevent them. people often ask why this large public agency is located in atlanta instead of the nation's capital. we are the only major government agency that is not headquartered in washington, dc, and both the fact that we're not in washington as well as the date that we were established, tells you something about our history. in 1946, troops were returning home from europe and the pacific after world war ii. the joy of their return was tempered by public health concerns about what might be arriving with them. would their homecoming also reintroduce diseases that had been erased from the national scene? in the southeastern part of the united states, up until well into the 20th century, this wa