The Trump administration on Monday said it does not foresee a heightened risk of disease outbreaks at FIFA’s 2026 World Cup, as federal health officials sought to reassure the public that they have a handle on the deadly hantavirus.
Jay Bhattacharya, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the risk of disease outbreak at the games this year “is not any different than it is in other World Cups,” in an interview with CBS News. His comments come as cases of hantavirus have been scattered across the world, and traced to the United States, with three deaths linked to the virus.
“Of course, any time so many people are traveling, there’s always the possibility of various outbreaks or whatnot to happen,” Bhattacharya said. “But the risk is not any different than it is in other World Cups that we’ve managed properly. And the United States has systems in place to make sure that if something happens that we respond appropriately.”
The World Cup is being jointly hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada in June and July. In the U.S., the event will take place in eleven major cities and is expected to attract millions of tourists from across the world.
Bhattacharya’s reassurance that hantavirus is not expected to impact the matches comes after officials announced Monday that 18 passengers aboard the cruise ship linked to the latest outbreak are being quarantined at facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.
No U.S. citizens have died, and the virus is not comparable to the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, officials have said.
“Let me be clear, let me be crystal clear, the risk of hantavirus remains very, very low,” Adm. Brian Christine, the Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for health, said Monday. “The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic.”
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Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE), who heads the state where the majority of passengers are being closely monitored for symptoms, said “the rest of America can be satisfied that there is a strong plan in place” to keep hantavirus in check.
“We are working diligently to ensure no one leaves the security in an unsecured way at an inappropriate time, no one who poses a risk to public health is walking out the front door of the streets of Omaha or beyond,” he said at a press briefing after 16 passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.