Officials monitoring World Cup health risks including Ebola, hantavirus
Officials monitor World Cup for Ebola, hantavirus risks
North Texas health officials and the CDC are monitoring global disease outbreaks, including Ebola in Congo and hantavirus in Argentina, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to mitigate risks as millions of fans travel to Texas.
DALLAS - Health officials are monitoring a rise in certain diseases ahead of the World Cup, when fans from around the world will be in North Texas for about two months.
What we know:
Soon, millions of global soccer fans will travel to the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Some of those fans could be from areas dealing with illnesses. For example, there is an Ebola outbreak in Africa and an increasing number of hantavirus cases in Argentina.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 30-day emergency order suspending U.S. entry for foreign nationals who have visited Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
On Thursday, the U.S. government also ordered all U.S. bound citizens who are coming from the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan to enter through Washington Dulles International Airport for enhanced screening.
Local perspective:
Congo’s national team will be based in Houston for the World Cup. And depending on how far they advance, they could play in Arlington.
Dr. Philip Huang, the director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said his department and the state health department will be in communication with the CDC throughout the tournament.
"There's been work from the state health department sort of prior to things by countries, even what conditions might be of concern. But then also, as I said, things like deep related illness are one of the biggest things in probably potentially affecting the most people. I mean, even things like STIs and other mosquito-borne illnesses. So, it was all across the board and we're doing a lot of monitoring," he said.
By the numbers:
As of Wednesday, there were 600 suspected cases of Ebola and about 139 suspected deaths in Congo.
There are no confirmed Ebola cases in the U.S. and health officials said the overall risk of an outbreak here is low.
The Source: FOX 4's Steven Dial gathered information for this story by talking to the Dallas County Health Director. Other details are from the Associated Press.