ATLANTA — Public health officials in World Cup host cities, including Atlanta, are preparing plans to protect fans from infectious diseases as more than one million people travel across the United States for next month’s tournament.
Doctors and public health leaders say concerns include food poisoning, heat-related illnesses, sexually transmitted infections, overdoses and measles outbreaks.
Fulton County Board of Health Director Dr. Marcus Plescia says one of the agency’s biggest priorities is food safety at fan events and festivals.
“There’s going to be dozens of vendors out on the streets, particularly at the fan festival, and our job is to try to make sure that food is safe and clean for everybody who attends,” Plescia said.
Plescia says the health department is bringing in environmental health inspectors from districts across Georgia to help inspect vendors during the tournament.
“That’s the biggest thing we’re preparing for, we’re actually bringing in environmental health inspectors from districts across Georgia so that we’ve got the people needed to make sure we can do that really well,” he said.
Atlanta is scheduled to host nine World Cup games during June and July. Plescia says cooling stations will be set up to help prevent heat-related illnesses during the summer heat and humidity.
“We will inspect the food vendors at the world cup events every single day to make sure they’re compliant with various sanitation and public health regulations,” Plescia said.
Health officials also say they are preparing for possible overdoses and sexually transmitted infections during the tournament. Narcan will be available at events, and health officials plan to coordinate closely with local hospitals and laboratories to monitor for potential outbreaks.
Plescia says the movement of fans between host cities could create challenges if an outbreak occurs.
“Somebody might be here for a game in Atlanta and be exposed to something let’s say, measles since that’s been so prevalent lately; but by the time we realize that and start to look at who might be at risk, that fan might have travelled to Dallas,” Plescia said.
One doctor described the public health preparations as an “invisible shield” for the public.
WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.