Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the U.S. and Canada will monitor wastewater and social media in host cities to detect disease outbreaks among the 6.5 million expected fans. A Georgetown University-led team will track threats including a record U.S. measles surge, an Ebola outbreak in Africa, and mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue. The effort aims to provide early warnings to public health officials and FIFA.
2026 World Cup disease surveillance
- ▪The project will also serve as a trial run for monitoring future events, including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
- ▪Social media monitoring will be used to track information pointing to transmission clusters
- ▪The 39-day tournament is expected to attract over 6.5 million fans from more than 100 countries to 104 matches across the US, Canada, and Mexico
- ▪A public health team will monitor sewage and social media in US and Canadian host cities for disease outbreaks during the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- ▪The surveillance effort uses advanced wastewater analysis with DNA and RNA sequencing to identify genetic material from microbes
Ebola travel restrictions
- ▪The risk of Ebola to the general public in North America is considered very low as the virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids
- ▪No approved vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests, or treatments exist for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola
- ▪An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, was declared a global health emergency in May 2026
- ▪The World Cup team and staff from the Democratic Republic of Congo underwent a precautionary quarantine in Belgium
- ▪The U.S. has banned entry for non-U.S. citizens who have been in affected African countries in the past 21 days and is screening passengers from those areas
Measles respiratory infection surge
- ▪Measles is a primary concern, with U.S. cases approaching a record 2,000 in 2026 as of early June
- ▪Other respiratory infections of concern include the flu, which saw a 30-year high in the 2025–2026 season, and COVID-19
- ▪A single infectious traveler at Denver International Airport in 2025 triggered a measles outbreak of at least 10 cases, demonstrating the virus's contagiousness
Mosquito-borne disease threats
- ▪Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya pose a risk, particularly in southern U.S. and Mexican host cities
- ▪Oropouche virus, another mosquito-borne illness, saw its largest-ever epidemic in Latin America in 2024, with over 8,000 confirmed cases in Brazil
- ▪The U.S. set a record for dengue cases in 2024 with nearly 3,800, a 359% increase over the prior 14-year average
Sexually transmitted infection risks
- ▪Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a potential risk, as one study found about 1 in 5 international travelers engages in casual sex
- ▪Mpox continues to circulate in the U.S. and is a particular concern at large public events
Public health monitoring efforts
- ▪A team led by Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Science and Security has established an epidemiological command post for the surveillance effort
- ▪The operations center is a collaboration involving academic institutions, non-profits like MedStar Health, and private companies
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