As World Cup fans cheer at the quarterfinals, concerns remain about the health of Norway’s players, several of whom are recovering from what turned out to be mild illness. Other international players had expressed concern earlier about measles in the Americas.

The tournament has highlighted risks related to the volume and fluidity of global travel. From Norway’s elite, handsomely paid squad to the millions of fans congregating at Fan Fests across Canada and the Americas, the quadrennial tournament exposes our interconnected health vulnerabilities.

It’s health security that makes this vibrant bustle possible. As we embrace strangers and shower drinks on neighbours — my 12-year-old son, a Fan Fest regular, particularly appreciates this tradition — Public Health Agency of Canada assesses passengers who appear sick in order to catch exposures to contagious diseases like measles and tuberculosis (TB).

As an American public health scientist working in Canada for the summer, I recently learned about significant preventive health investments, including monitoring for disease risks and major new infrastructure to protect residents from future threats.

Infectious diseases often spread through air travel. In 2010, two travellers from separate parts of the world brought measles with them to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The cases seeded a wave of community transmission in the province — meaning measles spread through local cases versus international exposures — with 82 cases reported in two months.

Fast forward to the 2026 World Cup. Canadian public health professionals have been monitoring anonymized electronic medical records, wastewater and public social media accounts for outbreak clues in order to head off widespread community transmission. Rapid communication to provincial residents about flight-related exposures, including via the news media, is a critical component of managing these ever-present risks.

Immunity and Society is a........

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