European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Solna, Sweden

April 21, 2004

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC, English European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) is an agency of the European Union, which was founded with the intention of advancing located infectious diseases such as influenza, SARS and HIV / AIDS to fight.

The decision to establish the ECDC, fell on 21 April 2004, by Regulation ( EC) No 851 /2004 of the European Parliament and the European Council. The inaugural conference was held in Solna, Sweden, instead of where the Agency has its seat since then. In March 2005, the Hungarian Zsuzsanna Jakab was the first director of the agency, the current Director of the Dutch artist Marc Sprenger. The ECDC took on 20 May 2005 his work as a European disease Authority.

Task

The ECDC should help to curb infectious diseases and other serious health risks associated with the EU. The tasks of the agency is one next to the cross-linking of different laboratories also running a " health early warning system ". Should break an unknown disease, ECDC would send a team of experts in the field and this contract them out to explore the disease and, if possible, to contain.

The main task of the ECDC is the formation of a 24 - hour call- by disease experts as well as providing a quick EU response teams that can be active worldwide.