The World Cup could be a petri dish for disease. Wastewater could sound the alarm

The World Cup could be a petri dish for disease. Wastewater could sound the alarm

As millions of soccer fans pack FIFA World Cup venues, public health scientists created a wastewater monitoring network to forecast potential disease threats—from measles to Ebola

This week the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup kicks off in North America . An anticipated five million soccer fans from around the world will travel to 16 host cities across three countries to cheer on teams from packed stadiums, creating a perfect petri dish for disease spread.

Dozens of health organizations and research groups have formed an independent surveillance network to track the presence of dangerous pathogens in community wastewater—a sentinel for potential outbreaks. The network, coordinated by the Health Security Operations Center in Washington, D.C., will monitor typical pathogens such as measles, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) and influenza, as well as concerning but less likely threats such as the pathogens that cause dengue fever and Ebola—which is fueling an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Mass gatherings are complicated. This particular mass gathering is about as complicated as you can possibly imagine,” says Rebecca Katz, global health security expert at Georgetown University and director of the Health Security Operations Center.

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The public health intelligence hub, launched by experts at Georgetown University and the health company Medstar Health, is working with wastewater monitoring sites, biotech companies (including Verily Health), genomics labs and local public health departments to stay ahead of disease threats during the matches. Communities and local health officials will receive daily reports, as well as notices of any significant risks.

“The World Cup is the Super Bowl on steroids,” says Vindell Washington, chief physician executive at Verily. People are coming from different countries with different baseline disease prevalence, he says, “so if you’re putting people in close proximity, for folks to have a safe environment, this kind of monitoring strategy is super important.”