Rock Hill (USA) – Twenty-eight people have died in Mexico as a result of a measles outbreak. Only one state in the US, South Carolina, is close to reaching 1,000 cases. Canada, the other organizing venue for the next World Cup, lost its qualification last year as a country that eliminated this virus. As trust in health agencies increasingly erodes, experts warn that “medical freedom” is turning against its proponents.

First modification: 02/17/2026 - 02:06 Last modification: 02/19/2026 - 18:32

If in one area the consequences of misinformation seem to be seen more clearly, it is in the health sector, and the furious return of measles is the best proof.

The anti-vaccine preaching, which spent the entire pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about the approach to Covid-19, has ended up opening cracks in public health that have only deepened.

The measles outbreak that is affecting the three countries that in less than four months will host millions of fans from around the world attending the World Cup is the worst in recent years.

Mexico, host of the opening match on June 11, has registered 9,074 cases from 2025 to date, according to official figures, and there are already 28 people who have lost their lives as a result of this viral disease for which there is no specific treatment.

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Most of those infected recover completely within two to three weeks, but there is also the risk of complications ranging from ear infections to death, blindness, pneumonia and encephalitis.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, warned on February 13 against misunderstandings about vaccines that "are fueling outbreaks and costing lives in many countries."

"We must continue to repeat it. Vaccines work, they are safe and they save lives," said the official, a reiteration that should not be necessary after years of scientific evidence.

However, it is necessary to emphasize it again in the face of all kinds of doubts raised around immunization schedules.

Those attacks include the recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the leadership of Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove from its website the claim validated by scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism.

On February 3, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert reflecting that in 2025, of the 12 countries on the continent that had suffered cases of measles, there were only deaths in the three World Cup games: two in Canada, three in the United States and 24 in Mexico.

PAHO demanded “immediate and coordinated action by Member States” and recommended “reinforcing routine surveillance and vaccination activities as a priority.”

Lost certification

Between 1998 and 2024, the years in which it was declared a measles-free country, Canada had an annual average of 91 cases and never had more than 752 reported infections. In 2025, there were 5,450 measles patients, which caused the country to lose its certification.

Toronto, Canada's most populous city, which will host six matches, has suffered a limited impact, although the province to which it belongs, Ontario, is along with Alberta the most affected, and the local public health agency anticipates a greater incidence around the time of the World Cup.

However, the trend in Toronto, whose population is more consistent with compliance with vaccination schedules than other parts of the province, is expected to help lessen that impact.

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The Canadian case is the perfect example of how personal decisions have had an influence on the rebound in infections.

Samira Jeimy, a professor at Western University School of Medicine, told AFP that the loss of certification was due to “the two-dose vaccination rate falling below the 95% threshold needed to stop sustained transmission.”

Now, Ontario's public health directorate is trying to get the World Cup organization to ask players and staff involved in the tournament to provide copies of their vaccination records "to ensure timely evaluation of contacts for measles cases."

It would be a measure similar to what is already observed in many parts of the world with citizens from certain countries, who are required to have a vaccination certificate against yellow fever, or what was experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when participation in sporting events was subject to prior immunization.

Death and alarm

Measles transmission is particularly easy. Daniel Salas, who was Costa Rica's Minister of Health during the pandemic and now works with PAHO, warned that a single person with the disease can infect 18 others.

Coughing, sneezing or simply talking in a crowded place, such as packed stadiums or lively sports bars overflowing with fans expected for the World Cup, are enough for the virus to spread.

Mexico is the country most affected by the North American outbreaks (not related to each other, at least not geographically), with 9,074 infections and 28 deaths confirmed by the Ministry of Health from last year until February 10, the date of the last bulletin.

Children between one and four years old are the most affected population, with a prevalence of 50.41 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The trend appears chronologically consistent with misinformation campaigns during and after the pandemic, which have led many parents to doubt the safety of vaccination.

While Europe and Central Asia have reduced infections by up to 75% compared to those reported the previous year, North America continues without slowing down significantly, and in Mexico the authorities have to once again insist on a practice that was part of a protocol accepted by everyone until not long ago: vaccinating.

"Remember that there is a vaccine, and there are enough vaccines. The important thing is to vaccinate where the outbreak occurs as is done with the epidemiological measures around where the outbreak occurs and at the same time certain ages that can be vaccinated," said President Claudia Sheinaum on February 10 during her usual daily press conference.

Mexico City, site of the opening match of the World Cup, hopes to reach community immunity in March, in time for the opening whistle, according to the calculations of the head of local government, Clara Brugada, who specified on February 13 that one million people have received the vaccine.

But the capital is the least serious of the problems when it comes to measles in the country, with only 217 active cases and one death. Chihuahua, Jalisco, Chiapas and Sinaloa are the most affected states and those that put Mexico at risk of suffering the same fate as Canada: losing its status as a measles-free country.

United States: where doubts were born

The anti-vaccine preaching of important conservative power groups, who found in Secretary Kennedy the decisive impulse to gain voice and followers, has had its best field of experimentation in South Carolina.

In Spartanburg County, one of the most affected by an outbreak that already has 950 affected, the vaccination rate among schoolchildren is at 89%, below the 95% recommended by public health experts to stop the transmission of measles.

Even Republican Governor Henry McMaster has maintained what appears to be a partisan line: that the freedom to choose is above the obligation demanded until not long ago by school districts in many counties in the state.

"Our focus is to make sure that people have the information and that the vaccine is available to them, give them all the information so they can decide what they want to do," he said during a news conference last week.

But even among Republicans there are those who are beginning to believe the speech has gone too far, like state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who is running for governor.

"I now believe that some people have overreacted to the contrary and are opposed to any vaccine, even those that have been tested and confirmed for decades," he wrote in January in a letter to the Spartanburg school board.

In that county, pediatricians have begun to treat possible measles infections outdoors, to prevent children suspected of having developed the virus from mixing with those who have come for consultation for other reasons.

And South Carolina has almost half of the cases reported nationally: 950 of just over 2,200 in the entire country, the worst record in the last 30 years, which will cause the United States certification to be reviewed in April.

This state may not represent any danger in the face of the Soccer World Cup, but Texas does. There were 762 cases recorded last year in just one specific region of the state, the west.

To the east, Houston, which will host seven World Cup games, has a vaccination rate of 88.7%, well below that required to stop community transmission.

Members of the medical community believe that these trends are directly related to the anti-vaccine preaching that Kennedy led.

"They fed these people false information to create distrust, and now they're coming to power and they're going to remedy that distrust by promoting the same misinformation," Rob Davidson, a Michigan emergency physician who heads a group of health professionals called the Committee to Protect Health Care, told the AP.

"We see increasing confusion about which sources to trust and which are real. That makes decision-making at the individual level much more difficult," Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, explained to the AP.

Kennedy, however, does not seem willing to change course, as he showed during a recent interview when he spoke out against "this idea that you should trust experts," and concluded: "a good mother doesn't do that."

And the population is reacting with fascination to disinformation campaigns.

"I like to go down those rabbit holes and that opens up a million questions, like 'What's in the vaccines? Why are we giving all these vaccines?'" Kathleen Black, a South Carolina mother who hasn't yet decided whether to immunize her youngest daughter, as she did with her older two, told Reuters.

With AP, Reuters, EFE, AFP and local media

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