England World Cup base hit by Ebola well being alert as lethal illness turns into ‘seen quick’
England’s World Cup HQ has been hit with a public health alert for deadly eye-bleeding disease Ebola.
Health chiefs in Missouri US – where the Three Lions will be based throughout the tournament – have warned medics to prepare for an influx of sufferers of the non-curable condition which has killed over 220 in the Congo.
They say the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus had “spread undetected for weeks” and was “becoming visible fast”. And the World Health Organization has admitted it is “playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic” which is “outpacing us”.
A US medic who was treating sufferers has tested positive for the condition, which starts as a fever, headache and sore throat. In critical cases, it progresses to bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose, mouth and gums, jaundice, brain fog and death.
Officials fear it is being spread around the world by aircraft travel. The US, Mexico and Canada will become global hubs when they host next month’s soccer showpiece.
The US and Canada have banned travellers from infected countries while Mexico has introduced enhanced passenger screening.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is due to compete at the tournament, faces being kicked out if it cannot convince US officials the team has quarantined adequately.
But it is Dr Holland Haynie’s warning in respected current affairs journal Newsweek that has brought the danger closer to home for the England team 15,000 fans expected to jet to North America for the tournament.
The chief medical officer at Central Ozarks Medical Center in Osage Beach, Missouri – less than three hours’ drive from England’s training base at – said a “state-level public health alert” had been issued for the disease.
World champions Argentina – and the team’s legendary talisman Lionel Messi – will be based in the same city. Their homeland recently suffered an outbreak of deadly hantavirus.
Dr Haynie wrote: “When state public-health alerts arrive part of my job as a chief medical officer is to make sure our doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses and clinic teams know what is happening and what to watch for.
“That is public health before it becomes a headline. And right now it is becoming visible fast. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is growing. WHO has raised the risk level inside Congo to ‘very high’.”
He said though the ‘global spread remains low’, Ebola was a ‘frightening word’, adding: “It should be. The current outbreak involves Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment.”
Dr Haynie said fellow US medic Dr Peter Stafford was ‘receiving care in Germany’ – and his wife and children were being ‘monitored as high-risk contacts’ after testing positive while treating patients in the Congo.
While one American had tested positive, no Ebola cases had yet been confirmed in the US and it only spread through ‘direct contact with bodily fluids’ from a sufferer. Dr Haynie added: “But ‘low risk’ does not mean ‘no work’.
“That is what many Americans misunderstand about public health. Low risk is not a synonym for ignore it. In medicine low risk often means doing the right things early enough that the risk stays low.
“The World Cup adds another layer. Kansas City’s first match is June 16 not far from where I practice medicine. Across North America millions of people will travel, gather, celebrate and return home.
“Airports, hotels, stadiums, urgent cares, emergency departments and local health departments will all become part of the same public-health reality.
“The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national team has already moved part of its pre-World Cup preparations out of Kinshasa because of the outbreak and related restrictions.
“The outbreak has also disrupted diplomacy with the India-Africa Forum Summit postponed because of the emerging health situation. That does not mean the World Cup is unsafe. It means the World Cup is already a preparedness story.
“The World Cup should be a celebration. Families should enjoy it. Cities should host it proudly. Visitors should feel welcome. But the work behind that celebration has to happen before the first plane lands and before the first fever reaches a front desk.
“America never fully left crisis mode after COVID. Ebola and the World Cup will test whether we can do something harder – take a real threat seriously without letting fear become the plan.
“The goal is not to make Americans afraid of the World Cup. It is to make sure they do not have to be. Public health is not panic. It is preparation done early enough that most people never have to think about it.”
The FA did not respond to a request for comment.
