The CDC's disease prevention efforts include educating the public on how to recognize and avoid contracting common infectious diseases, such as the flu and strep throat.
DISASTERS Hurricane Katrina approaches landfall on the Gulf coast. Very little on land or water was spared by the storm when it struck in 2005. (Image from NOAA) Hurricane Katrina caused devastating personal, social, economic, and cultural losses. This image shows homes destroyed by the storm in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. (Image from
More than 140,000 residents in the Texas Gulf Coast danger zones in Ike's path had failed to evacuate, partly due to fears of multi-hour traffic jams as during Hurricane Rita, but over 940 were rescued from rising waters, and nearly 2,000 rescued afterward.