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We're just weeks away from the largest and most expensive World Cup in history. 6.5 million tourists are expected across three host countries over 39 days, and a record 48 countries are participating, too. But an event this big faces several health risks and recent deadly outbreaks of Ebola and the hantavirus have gotten a lot of people worried that a major health crisis is on the way. Public trust in US government health agencies like the CDC is already at historic lows, and the Trump administration has slashed funding for many of them. It also exited the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
Despite this, Ebola and hantavirus risks are low. There are so many locks in place from a public health infrastructure that has been built over years and from lessons learned between 2014 with Covid and now, especially with new policies and emerging technologies, that it is not a public health threat. For one, Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person. So far, outbreaks are contained to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. The U.S. government imposed travel restrictions against these countries and up public health screenings for visitors in May.
Things that we take for granted, such as our public health and hospital systems, state of the art medical care, easy access, and constant access to running water and personal protective equipment allows us to have a lot of confidence that any case that potentially were to arise here, or even have a concern of Ebola would be able to be easily contained and managed in isolation. In April, a virus outbreak on board a cruise ship caused three deaths and infected over a dozen people. But that type of transmission is rare. The disease is typically spread by rodents and humans, usually contracted by breathing in air contaminated by the animal's waste.
While we're unlikely to see widespread cases of Ebola and hantavirus at the World Cup, there are other contagious diseases that worry officials like measles. Cases in the U.S. surged to the highest level in three decades in 2025, partly due to growing vaccine skepticism, with millions of fans packed in crowded stadiums, on public transit and at bars and restaurants, Covid, influenza and RSV could spread to events like these are also linked with an increase in sexual activity and STDs. Then there are some notable risks beyond infectious diseases like dengue virus, which can spread through bites from infected insects
and foodborne illnesses. Plus, this summer is on track to be one of the hottest on record in North America, meaning people will be more susceptible to things like heat stroke or heat exhaustion. So health officials will have their hands full, but local agencies say they're upping their surveillance and tracking methods for disease and sharing more data between scientists and hospitals. And the CDC told me in a statement that it also increased its protocols. It added more surveillance software that tracks unusual patterns and around the clock safety protocols at U.S. ports of entry.
It also launched a dedicated World Cup data dashboard to make it easier for local and state departments to notice disease trends. A public facing website, CDC safety for Soccer fans with health and safety tips is available for fans, players and workers, too. I do think that, you know, now, at this moment in the United States, we're actually better prepared, honestly, than we ever have been for high consequence infectious diseases. And there's a very robust system in the United States, as we always say, if we're doing our job. You don't see it.
