City health officials, physicians, and health care professionals in Houston, Austin, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area are preparing to welcome thousands of soccer fans while maintaining normal public health functions during the FIFA World Cup.
Officials along the state's busiest travel corridors told Texas Medicine Today they’re keenly aware of heat- and alcohol-related problems that can arise among fans unaccustomed to Texas’ muggy summer conditions. Public health teams are also keeping close watch on local hospital activity, monitoring for any airborne or infectious diseases, and using syndromic surveillance to track issues through real-time data.
“What’s most important is that should something concerning arise, we have good plans in place and good communication pathways to address them as appropriately and rapidly as possible,” said FIFA North Texas Medical Lead Marshal Isaacs, MD.
The emergency medicine specialist isn’t just focused on what happens at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. He’s coordinating other health experts planning responses in FIFA-related events in Dallas, Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, and Frisco, among others.
“Ultimately, our goal here in Dallas and FIFA World Cup 2026 North Texas is to provide our visitors, as well as our residents, with a safe, well-coordinated medical system capable of delivering high-quality care while maintaining our normal emergency services and hospital-based care for the community,” said Dr. Isaacs, professor at UT Southwestern Medical School and former member of the Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness.
Philip Huang, MD, the director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, says city officials have increased staffing to handle language translation and communications efforts for out-of-town guests. Health officials are also working with law enforcement to monitor human trafficking, sexual violence, and firearm injuries, he says.
Meanwhile, Houston is focused on having sufficient resources to avoid relying on outside first responder agencies while ensuring the Houston Fire Department runs normally, says Lars Thestrup, MD, chief medical officer for the FIFA World Cup Houston host committee.
He is also working on the city’s mobilization with Janeana White, MD, chief of medical services for the Houston Health Department and a member of TMA’s Committee on Infectious Diseases.
“The most important part of the plan,” Dr. Thestrup said, is beefing up the city’s manpower by adding 50 private emergency medical service units on game days and keeping 36 on call during off days. The goal is to have sufficient resources so as not to have to use other first responder agencies, such as the Houston Fire Department.
Outside of individual emergencies, both the North Texas and Houston contingents are tracking various diseases that are not common in Texas or the United States, says Desmar Walkes, MD, medical director and health authority with Austin Public Health.
“We’re having people come in from all over the country, or all over the globe,” said Dr. Walkes, whose city is hosting Saudi Arabia for practice sessions. “We’re particularly looking for things like measles, and from certain areas we may be looking at things like MERS [Middle East Respiratory Syndrome], Ebola or – God forbid – hantavirus, which incidentally is being really well controlled here nationally.”
Texas health officials and EMS agencies are already tracking an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – particularly because the team will be training in Houston – to have an appropriate response in place if needed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced enhanced travel screening and entry restrictions into the U.S.
For more information on how TMA makes public health a priority, visit the Public Health page online.