The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned yesterday (Thursday) against an escalating measles epidemic in the Americas as the World Cup soccer tournament that begins in July in the United States, Mexico and Canada approaches on the horizon.
Measles cases recorded on the continent are on a net increase from 2025, particularly in North American countries where the highly infectious and potentially fatal disease has never been eradicated.
Last year, more than 14.700 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in 13 countries in the Americas and dozens of deaths: this is “almost 32 times” the 2024 level, PAW director Zarbas Barbosa said during a press conference.
And “this trend continues in 2026 and accelerates” as there are now “more than 15,300 cases”, mainly in Mexico, Guatemala, the US and Canada, he said.
“The re-emergence of measles in the Americas is a major setback, but it is completely reversible” thanks to vaccination, he noted.
The main symptoms of measles are fever, runny nose, cough, conjunctivitis, photophobia and rashes on the face, trunk and limbs.
While measles vaccines are highly effective and have been licensed, in countries where the disease was thought to have been eradicated, the increase in vaccine controversy and difficulties in accessing vaccines in some signaled that the field was becoming fertile for the re-emergence and spread of the disease.
Seven million
“The world forgot. Because they no longer see epidemics on a mass scale and children dying around them, they doubt why they should get vaccines–but measles has never been eradicated (worldwide), like rubella, and when this virus infects someone vulnerable, it attacks them mercilessly,” Daniel Salas, in charge of vaccination programmes at the PAO, insisted to Agence France-Presse.
With this in mind, and with the 2026 World Cup now on the horizon, which will be held in the US, Mexico and Canada, where the virus is circulating, the doctor urged tourists to make sure they are adequately vaccinated and take precautions to avoid infection.
Nearly seven million visitors are expected in the 16 cities where matches will be played in this event, which is anything but ordinary, as for the first time it will be a tournament with 48 teams and 104 matches. As well as welcoming people to the stadiums, each of these cities will be hosting a “fan festival” where thousands of supporters will flock to watch the matches on giant screens.
“Measles is an airborne disease that spreads very easily. The virus can even stand in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a place,” he reminded.
When contacted by Agence France-Presse, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services–which is currently headed by anti-vaccine figures, criticized for the way it handled the measles outbreak–said it is “coordinating with its federal partners” and working “in close cooperation with FIFA and local stakeholders to guarantee the health and safety of Americans and foreign visitors during the World Cup” soccer World Cup (June-July).
