From smallpox, plague, diphtheria, typhoid, cholera and malaria in the early 1900s, to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Nipah virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and the threats of a flu pandemic in recent years, the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) has been through them all.

After being at the forefront of fighting major infectious diseases in Singapore for more than a century, the gates of the old compound located in Moulmein Road finally closed as operations ceased last Thursday.