Why Vancouver Is Watching Measles Before the World Cup

As Vancouver prepares to welcome visitors for the FIFA World Cup, public health officials are paying close attention to a familiar but still dangerous threat: measles. The concern is not that the tournament will automatically trigger an outbreak, but that a major international event can create the exact conditions measles needs to travel fast—crowded spaces, constant movement, and people arriving from many parts of the world.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has already flagged measles as one of the most likely infections to be brought into the country during the tournament. That warning makes sense when you consider how easily the virus spreads through the air and how active it remains in many countries. One infected traveler can expose a large number of people before anyone realizes what has happened.

Why the timing worries health experts

Officials are not just looking at the size of the event. They are also looking at the broader public health picture. Canada is already dealing with ongoing measles transmission, and vaccination levels have slipped in some areas. When those factors line up with packed stadiums, transit hubs, hotels, and fan zones, the risk becomes harder to ignore.

Ontario has already shared a detailed infectious disease risk assessment for the World Cup. That review points to three major issues:

• Heavy international travel into host cities
• Large crowds gathered in close quarters
• Lower vaccination coverage in some communities

British Columbia has not yet released a public version of its own assessment, which has raised questions among some medical experts who want more visible communication before fans arrive.

What doctors want Vancouver to say now

Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, says the current silence is a problem. In his view, residents and visitors should hear clear advice well before the tournament begins, not after someone has already tested positive.

He argues that public health messaging should focus on simple, practical steps:

• Check whether you have been vaccinated against measles
• Update immunization records if needed
• Make sure travelers understand that measles is still active in Canada
• Encourage families with uncertain vaccine histories to speak with a health provider

Conway’s point is straightforward: once large numbers of fans, athletes, and tourists are in the city, prevention becomes much more difficult than preparation.

The current outbreak is already widespread

Canada has reported more than 900 measles cases across seven jurisdictions this year, with Alberta and Manitoba carrying the largest share. That is a serious number on its own, but it also sits on top of last year’s much larger surge, when more than 5,000 people were infected nationwide.

Health officials believe that earlier outbreak began with a case in New Brunswick in fall 2024 after the infected person was exposed outside Canada. The lesson from that episode is clear: measles does not need much help to cross borders when travel is frequent and immunity is uneven.

In British Columbia, the situation has also been active. Provincial figures show 470 measles cases in 2025 and 2026 combined. Roughly 80 percent of those cases have been concentrated in northeastern B.C., where immunization rates are among the lowest in the province.

Vancouver has seen this pattern before

This is not the first time the city has had to think about disease risk around a major sporting event. After the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, British Columbia recorded a measles outbreak that reached 82 confirmed cases. The circumstances were different, but the broader warning still applies: large global gatherings can make it easier for infections to move from one person to another.

Dr. Conway says the current situation may be even more concerning because vaccination rates have dropped in parts of the province. He also notes that some countries sending fans and athletes to the World Cup have lower immunization coverage than Canada, which increases the odds that an imported case could arrive during the tournament.

Health officials say the city is planning

Vancouver Coastal Health says it has been preparing for the World Cup for years and has already completed a public health risk assessment with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. The findings have not been made public, but deputy chief medical health officer Dr. Mark Lysyshyn says the measles risk for the tournament was judged to be in the medium range.

According to Lysyshyn, the region has already handled dozens of imported measles cases during the current outbreak. Importantly, those cases have not spread widely within the Vancouver Coastal Health area.

He credits high immunization rates in much of the region for helping stop onward transmission. In his view, that means an imported case during the World Cup would not necessarily become harder to manage than the imported cases health teams have already handled.

Who faces the greatest danger

Not everyone faces the same level of risk. Dr. Monika Naus, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, says large international events always carry some chance of infectious disease spread. Still, she believes the general public is relatively protected because most adults already have immunity through vaccination or past infection.

The bigger concern, she says, is what happens if measles reaches a community with low vaccine coverage. In British Columbia, those higher-risk areas are often clustered geographically, which makes them easier for the virus to find once it starts moving.

That is why experts keep returning to the same message: the event itself is not the only issue. The real danger is how quickly an imported case can spread in places where too few people are protected.

Why vaccination checks matter before kickoff

As the World Cup draws closer, health experts say residents should not wait for a public alert to look up their immunization history. Measles is highly contagious, but it is also preventable through vaccination, which makes early action one of the most effective defenses.

For people living in or traveling to Vancouver, the safest approach is simple:

• Confirm that measles vaccines are up to date
• Ask a doctor or clinic if records are unclear
• Pay attention to symptoms after travel or event attendance
• Stay home and seek medical advice if measles is suspected

Canada lost its measles elimination status last year, after the Pan American Health Organization notified the country that transmission was no longer limited to isolated imported cases. That status can be regained if transmission is interrupted for a full year, but getting there will depend in part on how well the public responds to the current outbreak.

For Vancouver, the challenge is to keep the excitement of a global tournament from overshadowing a simple health reality: a preventable disease can still cause serious disruption if communities stop paying attention.