Masks in schools mandated as measles outbreak prompts health alert for World Cup host Jalisco, Mexico
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Mexico’s Jalisco state has issued a health alert and mandated the use of face masks in schools as a measles epidemic hits the capital, a key host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
These measures come after the epidemiological warning issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) earlier this week regarding the spread of this preventable disease in the Americas, especially in Mexico, which leads the region with 1,981 cases confirmed by the authorities this year and more than 5,200 suspected cases.
Jalisco is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 1,163 confirmed cases this year and 2,092 suspected cases, according to the Mexican government.
The outbreak of measles in Mexico began last year in northern Chihuahua, after a Mennonite child visiting relatives in the plague-stricken state of Texas fell ill. The cases have erupted in Mennonite communities – which have high rates of vaccine reluctance – and have spread across Mexico in the country’s largest outbreak in decades.
The risk of a World Cup outbreak
Scientists say rising outbreaks across the hemisphere are linked to declining vaccination rates. Mauricio Rodriguez, a professor of microbiology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico focuses on epidemic diseases, that the cases are intense in Mexico mainly because many communities in the country do not have their full measles vaccination program.
That poses a major risk in the summer as the United States, Mexico and Canada — all of which have seen an increase in measles — host visitors from around the world, he said.
A Toronto doctor is warning about emergency room capacity ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup games in Canada, which are expected to bring hundreds of thousands of soccer fans to Toronto and Vancouver.
“During the World Cup, many people will travel abroad [Mexico] and that represents the risk of introducing many diseases from other areas,” said Rodriguez.
Guadalajara is one of the main places in Mexico for the soccer tournament.
In an effort to strengthen cases, health authorities in Jalisco announced Thursday that masks will be required in Guadalajara schools in seven specific areas for the next 30 days.
Jalisco was the first Mexican state to take these measures as medical groups urged the local government to take emergency measures, marking the country’s first public health authority since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Classes were also recently suspended in 15 schools in Jalisco and central Aguascalientes region due to the outbreak of this contagious air virus.
Infection control efforts
On Thursday, students and teachers in areas around Guadalajara demonstrated in classrooms with masks and long lines to use the vaccination centers set up in local government buildings.
Angel Ivan Soto Mendez and his family were among those waiting to be shot, and said they were already prepared for their children to go to school with masks and disinfectant.
“If everyone is not vaccinated, there will be diseases everywhere,” he said.
Canada lost its measles-free status in November and the US and Mexico are at risk of meeting the same fate. Both governments asked for a two-month extension to try to control the outbreak, even though in January the Trump administration withdrew from the World Health Organization, which operates under its umbrella, PAHO.
In the first three weeks of this year, 1,031 more cases of measles were confirmed in seven countries in the Americas with no reported deaths – which is 43 times more than what was recorded during the same period last year – PAHO said Wednesday in a statement.
The Mexican government has spent weeks encouraging people to get vaccinated against measles, which can be prevented with two doses of the vaccine, and has announced the introduction of vaccination centers in places like airports and bus stations.
