Public health officials say the measles risk is the top worry for the World Cup, driven by lower vaccination rates, international travel, and the way measles can linger in shared air for hours after someone leaves a venue.
On the World Cup grounds, the excitement is loud and constant. But for public health officials, there’s another kind of noise they can’t afford to ignore: the quiet spread of measles.
Philadelphia deputy health commissioner Garrow put it plainly—disease surveillance is something health teams do every day, but the World Cup will make it “look” different. He’s especially concerned about infectious disease in crowded spaces, naming measles as “probably our top worry.”
Garrow said communications have already gone out to regional healthcare providers about what to look for. His concern isn’t theoretical. With recent outbreaks in the United States. lower vaccination rates. and people traveling. it’s more likely than ever that a fan with measles could be in the stands at the World Cup.
Stadiums won’t be the only pressure points. Fan Festivals are also expected to be packed. with “cheering people” gathering in dense numbers—exactly the kind of environment where measles can take hold. Garrow explained why measles is so hard to contain once it’s in the air: it “tends to hang around” because it spreads through “very small particles. ” which can “float there for up to two hours after someone with measles has been in the space.”.
That detail changes the math for surveillance. How many people could have passed through the same area in that window—after a contagious person leaves—becomes the question officials can’t shake.
The worry over measles sits inside a broader reality that experts say is unavoidable whenever large crowds gather. Amesh Adalja. MD. a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. urged people to think of the World Cup as a “mass gathering event.” In that setting. Adalja said. the likely threat isn’t one exotic disease—it’s “diseases of crowds. ” a mix of infections that spread where people pack in.
Experts describe crowd-friendly infections falling into four categories: respiratory ailments, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vector-borne infections, and gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses. Kuppalli added that officials have to consider “the gamut of infections,” not just the headline concerns.
Even with Ebola still dominating international attention because of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. doctors don’t expect to see cases tied to the World Cup. Rebecca Katz. PhD. MPH. professor and director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security. said the global health community is watching Ebola “with deep concern.” But when the focus turns to the World Cup. Katz said the threat to the general public in North America is “really quite low.”.
The reason is rooted in how Ebola spreads. Katz explained that Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. which is why it often affects healthcare workers and people involved in burial rituals. “You could be sitting next to somebody in a stadium, and you’re not going to get Ebola from them.”.
So the focus returns to the kinds of infections that do spread through ordinary proximity and shared spaces—especially those that are already moving through populations.
Experts expect more common infections such as COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to feature in the kind of monitoring that big events trigger. Bernard Camins. MD. professor of infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. said flu may also matter even if it doesn’t feel like flu season in the summer for many Americans. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s influenza season, meaning teams and fans could arrive with it.
Camins added that this risk isn’t limited to people who feel sick on the way in. “You can even see outbreaks of flu,” he said, because “theoretically, [fans] can get on the plane while they’re still not sick and land and be contagious.”
The same crowded-event logic applies to gastrointestinal illness. Norovirus, Kuppalli said in describing the broader range, can spread during big sporting events, including the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Between the vivid specifics of how measles can persist in air for two hours and the broader expectation of “diseases of crowds. ” one thing becomes clear: at the World Cup. the risks aren’t only about what’s trending in the news—they’re about what happens when large numbers of people share enclosed spaces. travel across borders. and enter the same sites within the infectious window officials are preparing to watch.
World Cup measles disease surveillance crowd infections vaccination rates Ebola COVID-19 RSV influenza norovirus public health
So they’re worried about measles but not the flu? Kinda weird.
I don’t even understand how measles can “linger” like that. If it’s airborne for hours, then can people just catch it walking past someone? Seems like they should cancel crowds entirely.
This article makes it sound like one sick fan can infect an entire stadium like a movie lol. Also I saw something about lower vaccination rates, but isn’t measles super rare now? I’m not saying it’s fake, just… feels exaggerated.
World Cup crowd risk? They should’ve thought about this earlier. My cousin said measles is basically from dirty water or something, not “small particles” floating. I guess anyway, with all that international travel, it’s gonna spread no matter what they do. Surveillance ramps up… but do they actually have enough nurses for Fan Festivals too?