Behind the Scenes at World Cup, Lots of Disease Busters - Newser

While millions of soccer fans cheer on World Cup matches in North America, health officials will be on high alert for germs. A heat wave may be the most obvious health threat, but infectious diseases can spread in a crowd, and experts are set to scrutinize wastewater, hospital visits, even social media for signs an outbreak may be afoot, per the AP. Measles, one of the most contagious diseases, is among the top concerns, sparking a warning this week from the Pan American Health Organization. With a nearly six-week stretch of packed stadiums, bars, and tourist sites in 16 cities, officials are on the lookout for a long list of infections, from the norovirus stomach bug to mosquito-borne dengue fever. "This is truly a marathon," says Palak Raval-Nelson, Philadelphia's health commissioner. The mass gatherings come at a tense moment for budget-strapped health agencies in the US. The CDC, hit hard by Trump administration staffing cuts, already was grappling with a growing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa and a cruise ship hantavirus outbreak. While CDC officials have advised state and local health departments behind the scenes, its expected World Cup disease surveillance dashboard still was "in final development" days before the games began, per the Department of Health and Human Services. "Our public health professionals are pretty stretched," says global health specialist Rebecca Katz, who's leading an unusual new hub to help. At the Health Security Operations Center, a joint effort between Georgetown University and MedStar Health, workers are analyzing data from around the country so they can alert health authorities, even ERs, to any early signs of trouble. The center is issuing daily "situation reports" on disease trends in host cities and team base camps to local and federal public-health groups, hospital officials, and others who've signed up. People with certain viral or bacterial infections shed genetic material that sophisticated testing of wastewater can spot—an early warning system. For example, measles can appear in wastewater days before an ER sees initial patients. This week's surveillance reports from Katz's center note wastewater testing recently found rotavirus, hepatitis A, and norovirus in some parts of the US. In Dallas, a team is also enhancing mosquito testing, checking not just for West Nile virus that regularly spreads, but for viruses more common in other nations, like dengue and chikungunya. "It's important that we don't become alarmist," says MedStar's Dr. Shane Kappler. "We're trying to be the insurance policy." More here.