European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an independent agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It was established in 2004 and is located in Solna, Sweden.

History

As EU economic integration and open frontiers increased, cooperation on public health issues became more important. While the idea of creating a European centre for disease control had been discussed previously by public health experts, the outbreak in 2003 of SARS and its rapid spread across country borders confirmed the urgency of the creation of an EU-wide institution for public health. ECDC was set up in record time for an EU agency: the European Commission presented draft legislation in July 2003; by the spring of 2004, Regulation (EC) 851/2004 had been passed and in May 2005 the Centre became operational. The relevance of the Centre's mission was confirmed shortly after it began operating, when the arrival of H5N1 avian influenza in the EU's neighbourhood led to fears the disease could adapt or mutate into a pandemic strain of human influenza.