The Ebola outbreak is raising global concerns, just as thousands of fans prepare to travel for the World Cup.
The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health says it’s been preparing for months ahead of the World Cup, including how to monitor infectious diseases. While health experts say containing the outbreak is critical, it also says the risk of Ebola spreading in the U.S. remains low.
Preparations are well underway for the FIFA World Cup across the United States. The tournament will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, but as the countdown continues, so does the push to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa.
The CDC reports nearly 600 suspected cases and 148 suspected deaths.
That concern reached North America Wednesday, when an Air France flight to Detroit was diverted to Canada after a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo was allowed to board in error.
The U.S. is now restricting entry for non-U.S. citizens who have been in Congo, South Sudan, or Uganda within the past three weeks.
Americans returning from those regions will be routed through Dulles International Airport for enhanced screening.
With the World Cup drawing closer, the DRC’s National Team has canceled its pre-tournament camp amid the outbreak.
FIFA tells NBC News it’s working with U.S. health agencies and continuing to monitor the situation.
The team is still set to play in Houston, with a possible match in Dallas. Meanwhile, The Bay Area is expecting thousands of international visitors for six matches in Santa Clara.
The county Department of Public Health says it has a plan in place to monitor people traveling from areas impacted by the outbreak.
Health experts also stress that while Ebola is deadly, it does not spread easily like COVID-19.
“You have to be super sick and in the middle of an outbreak and around people who are dying and very sick with those bodily fluid exposures to get sick, that’s not gonna be people who are coming here to the World Cup, very sick people are not going to be able to get on a plane, so I’m not worried about Ebola. Am I worried about other things like measles, influenza, anything else that can spread when a lot of people are together? Yes,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease doctor at UCSF.
Gandhi also said she believes the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization and USAID cuts may have delayed awareness of the outbreak. The state department denies that claim.