Health officials are warning that a major international soccer tournament can do more than fill hotels and stadiums. It can also move viruses across borders. As Vancouver prepares to welcome fans, players, and media from around the world, measles is drawing close attention because it remains highly contagious and continues to circulate in many countries.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has said measles is one of the diseases most likely to be imported during the event. That concern is not based on speculation. Measles spreads through the air with remarkable ease, and large gatherings create exactly the kind of environment where a single infected traveler can expose many others before anyone realizes what happened.
Why Officials Are Watching So Closely
Public health planners are not treating the tournament as a crisis, but they are treating it as a meaningful test of readiness. International sporting events bring together people from many regions, often in packed transit systems, crowded viewing areas, restaurants, and fan zones. Those settings may be exciting for spectators, but they also give contagious illnesses more chances to spread.
Ontario has already released a detailed risk review for the tournament, and that assessment points to several factors that could raise the chance of transmission. Travel from abroad, dense crowds, and lower vaccination coverage in some places all increase the odds that measles could arrive and find susceptible people.
British Columbia has not yet made its own public risk assessment available, which has led some experts to call for clearer communication before the first major crowds arrive.
Experts Want a Stronger Public Message
Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, has said the province should be more visible and direct in its messaging. In his view, residents and visitors need plain advice well before the tournament begins: check immunization records, confirm protection, and do not assume childhood vaccination status is current without verifying it.
He also believes visitors should be informed that Canada is already managing ongoing measles transmission. That message matters because many travelers may arrive expecting a low-risk environment and may not realize that local spread is still happening in parts of the country.
Conway’s broader point is simple. The more people know before they arrive, the easier it is to prevent one imported case from becoming a larger problem.
The Canadian Case Count Remains High
Canada has already recorded more than 900 measles cases this year across seven jurisdictions, with Alberta and Manitoba reporting the highest totals. That number is significant because it shows the disease is not just a theoretical concern tied to a future event. It is already active in the country.
The current outbreak comes after a much larger surge last year, when more than 5,000 people became infected. Investigators believe that earlier outbreak began after exposure outside Canada, with the first known case in New Brunswick in the fall of 2024.
In British Columbia, provincial data shows 470 measles cases have been reported during 2025 and 2026. Most of those cases, roughly 80 percent, have been concentrated in northeastern British Columbia, where immunization rates are among the lowest in the province.
What Vancouver Learned From the Past
This is not the first time the city has faced health concerns tied to a major athletic event. After the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia saw a measles outbreak that involved 82 confirmed cases. The circumstances were different, but the lesson was clear: large global events can create conditions that allow infectious diseases to move more easily than they otherwise would.
Conway says the current moment may be even more complicated because vaccination rates have fallen in some parts of British Columbia. He also noted that some of the countries sending teams, officials, and fans may have lower immunization coverage than Canada, which raises the chances that someone arrives with measles already in the incubation period.
That combination of travel, crowding, and uneven vaccine coverage is exactly why public health experts keep returning to the same advice: prevention works best before the event starts.
Health Authorities Say Planning Is Under Way
Vancouver Coastal Health says it has been preparing for the tournament for several years and has completed a public health risk assessment with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. The findings have not been released publicly, but officials have said the overall measles risk was judged to be in the medium or moderate range.
Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, deputy chief medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, said the region has already dealt with dozens of imported measles cases during the current outbreak. He added that those cases did not lead to sustained local spread in the Vancouver Coastal Health area.
In his view, strong community immunization has been a major reason the virus has not taken hold more broadly. Because of that, he does not expect an imported case tied to the tournament to be dramatically harder to manage than other recent cases.
What the City Says
The City of Vancouver says it has operational and emergency management plans in place for the tournament. Officials say they are ready to respond if public health or safety problems arise during the event.
That kind of planning is important because cities hosting global competitions have to think about more than traffic, security, and transit. They also need to be ready for health events that can develop quickly and quietly.
Who Faces the Greatest Risk
Dr. Monika Naus, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, said large international gatherings always involve some level of infectious disease risk. Even so, she emphasized that the general public is not equally vulnerable.
Most adults are already immune to measles through vaccination or prior infection, so the biggest concern is not widespread citywide transmission. The real danger is what happens if the virus reaches communities where vaccine coverage is low. In British Columbia, those communities tend to be clustered, which can make outbreaks more concentrated once they begin.
Naus’s warning is especially relevant because measles is so contagious. A person can spread it before they even know they are sick, and that makes awareness and vaccination status critical before a packed event gets underway.
Canada No Longer Holds Elimination Status
Last year, the Public Health Agency of Canada said the Pan American Health Organization informed Canada that it no longer has measles elimination status. That designation is lost when transmission continues long enough to show that the virus is no longer being held to isolated imported cases.
Canada can regain that status if transmission is interrupted for a full year. Until then, the country’s health system remains under pressure to contain every new chain of spread as quickly as possible.
Why Vaccination Checks Matter Now
As Vancouver moves closer to hosting fans from around the world, checking vaccine records may be one of the most practical steps people can take. Measles is preventable, but only if people are properly immunized. When vaccination rates are high, imported cases are much less likely to trigger larger outbreaks.
For residents and visitors alike, the message is straightforward: the excitement of a world-class sporting event should not come at the expense of preventable disease control. A little preparation now can help keep the focus where it belongs, on the games rather than on a public health response.