Risk of "camel flu" infection for fans at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
One of the biggest international events since the COVID-19 pandemic, about 1.2 million spectators from all across the world will be in Qatar to watch the quadrennial football competition.
The World Health Organization (WHO)-backed experts have warned that the FIFA World Cup, which draws a significant amount of people from around the world, may also draw several infections like coronavirus, monkeypox, and a deadlier member of the Covid gang known as "camel flu" or Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
In a study that was published in the journal New Microbes and New Infections, researchers discovered that while football fans from all over the world are travelling to Qatar to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the large crowd "unavoidably poses potential infectious disease risks" for the players, the fans, the locals, and the countries where the team is from.
According to the study, other illnesses that fans were at danger of contracting were cutaneous leishmaniasis, malaria, dengue, rabies, measles, hepatitis A and B, and traveler's diarrhoea.
MERS was recently named by the WHO as one of the viruses with the potential to start a pandemic in the future.
One of the biggest international events since the COVID-19 pandemic, about 1.2 million spectators from all across the world will be in Qatar to watch the quadrennial football competition. This will increase the 2.8 million people already living in the Gulf country.
According to the study, even though Qatar had prepared its health system for such an event, ongoing research on the spread of illnesses was crucial. Visitors to the tournament should be up to date on their routine immunizations and follow the guidelines for safe food and beverage consumption, it advised, in order to reduce the hazards indicated above.
Travelers to Qatar for the World Cup have also been warned not to contact camels, which are thought to be the source of the deadly sickness.
According to a piece on the UK-based science website IFLScience, MERS was initially discovered in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, which borders Qatar, and has since resulted in 2,600 cases and 935 deaths in 27 different countries.
While the majority of MERS infections are thought to be asymptomatic or only result in minor symptoms like fever, breathlessness, and coughing, those with comorbidities are more likely to develop severe infections.
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