Measles, Not Ebola, Tops Infectious Disease Concerns for 2026 FIFA World Cup, Health Officials Say
Key Insights
Despite an ongoing Ebola (search) outbreak in Congo and Uganda designated a public health emergency, experts say the risk of Ebola transmission during the World Cup is extremely low due to its non-respiratory spread.
Measles (search) is the primary concern for public health officials, given its extreme contagiousness, rising U.S. cases (over 2,100 in 2025), and declining vaccination rates.
Host cities are scaling up wastewater surveillance, mobile testing labs, and cross-jurisdictional coordination through new initiatives like Georgetown's Health Security Operations Center.
As millions of fans and 48 teams prepare for the largest FIFA World Cup in history—spanning 16 host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico starting June 11—global health officials are mounting an extensive surveillance and response operation. Their primary focus is not the ongoing Ebola (search) outbreak in Congo and Uganda, but rather measles (search), one of the world's most contagious viruses.
"Measles (search) is our biggest concern," said James Garrow, communications director for Philadelphia's Department of Public Health. "We're seeing outbreaks throughout the U.S. and overseas, and when you have a disease that's as infectious as this, people just have to be in the same plane for an hour or two and all of a sudden you have an outbreak that's transferred to somewhere else."
The U.S. recorded more than 2,100 confirmed measles (search) cases in 2025—the highest number since 1991—with cases reported in 45 jurisdictions and 48 outbreaks, compared with 16 the previous year, according to CDC data. Approximately 93% of confirmed cases were among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said he "would not be surprised if we saw a measles (search) outbreak linked to the World Cup," noting that "crowds are an ideal place for measles virus to spread." The incubation period of up to 14 days for the measles rash means an outbreak could emerge before the tournament concludes on July 19, and foreign fans could potentially bring the virus back to their home countries.
Ebola Risk Deemed Low Despite International Emergency
The World Health Organization has designated the Ebola (search) outbreak in Congo and Uganda a "public health emergency of international concern," with more than 260 confirmed cases and over 1,100 more under investigation. The current strain, the Bundibugyo virus (search), has no approved treatment or vaccine.
However, infectious disease experts emphasize that Ebola (search) transmission requires direct contact with bodily fluids or blood of someone already showing symptoms. "It's not a respiratory virus; it's not something that thrives in crowds that don't have exposure to blood and body fluids, so I don't think that it poses an objective threat to the World Cup," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, adjunct assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director for University of California, Irvine Health Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, added: "The overall likelihood of risk is not nonzero, but it's low, very low, because it is not easy to transmit person to person."
The CDC has nevertheless implemented enhanced entry screening measures. Travelers arriving from Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the previous 21 days must enter through designated airports in Atlanta, Houston, New York, or the Washington area for public health assessment, including travel history review, symptom surveys, temperature checks, and contact information collection for 21-day monitoring.
Host Cities Scale Up Surveillance Infrastructure
Public health departments across host cities are expanding their monitoring capabilities. Dallas County is increasing wastewater sample sites to cover nearly the entire county and implementing metagenomic testing to broadly identify bacteria, viruses, and fungi in sewage samples. The county is also enhancing mosquito surveillance beyond endemic West Nile virus to include dengue (search), chikungunya, and Zika.
Philadelphia has deployed a new mobile laboratory, launched in June, that can test samples on site to accelerate detection and reduce reliance on distant specialized labs. "That's a system that I'm extraordinarily proud about… we are absolutely working so hard every single day in preparation for things like this," said Dr. Theresa Tran, director for the Houston Health Department.
Houston has teams of registered sanitarians ready to investigate foodborne illnesses and has prepared public health campaigns addressing heat-related illness, given the city's high humidity. Dr. Marcus Plescia, director of the Fulton County Board of Health in Atlanta, said his staff have been preparing for months, ensuring adequate supplies of vaccines and immunoglobulin injections for potential measles (search) exposures.
New Coordination Mechanisms Fill Gaps
The tournament arrives amid what Dr. Rebecca Katz, director of Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Science and Security, described as "added layers of challenges," citing resource cuts to public health and the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, which has "strained" international disease-sharing mechanisms.
In response, Katz launched the Health Security Operations Center in May, a collaboration between Georgetown University and MedStar Health. The hub distributes daily situation reports to hundreds of state and local health officials, federal agencies, tournament organizers, and hospital emergency managers. The center participates in daily stand-up calls hosted by the Pan American Health Organization and monitors mobility data as fans move between cities.
The CDC, meanwhile, has developed a World Cup data dashboard in final development to give state and local health departments greater visibility into disease trends across jurisdictions. An agency spokesperson said the CDC is "actively engaged in World Cup preparedness as part of the federal coordination structure led by the White House FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force."
Respiratory and Foodborne Illnesses Also on Radar
Beyond measles (search), officials are watching for respiratory viruses including Covid-19 (search) and influenza (search). Pekosz noted that while flu and Covid levels are in a summer lull in the U.S., it is winter in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, creating "a fairly good possibility that influenza-infected people might be coming from that area."
Norovirus (search) and foodborne illnesses also rank high on the infectious disease radar. Dr. Monika Roy, deputy health officer for Santa Clara County, California, said public health departments have been ensuring food vendors at World Cup events have proper permits. Plescia noted that daily inspections of temporary vendors and food trucks represent "the biggest lift" for his team.
Dr. Margaret Aldrich, a pediatric epidemiologist at NYU Langone, expressed confidence in the preparations: "There's a very robust system in the United States. The departments of health are really continuing to maintain that hard work and ensuring that, as we always say, if we're doing our job, you don't see it."