An outbreak of a rare type of Ebola is set to prevent fans from the Democratic Republic of the Congo from traveling to their country’s first World Cup since 1974.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new order that bans visitors who have spent time recently in three African nations that is “intended to reduce the risk of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus.” One of those countries is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is set to play in the World Cup this summer, which is jointly hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
A senior State Department official told CNN that they “expect that the team will be able to attend and participate,” but they “don’t anticipate exemptions for the fans.”
The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it suspects 139 people have died from the rare form of the virus and the number of cases has risen to 600, but that there is little risk the outbreak would rise to the level of a pandemic.
The team canceled a planned three-day training camp and farewell celebration in the country’s capital of Kinshasa. All of the players and the head coach are not currently in the country—most of them are in France, while others are on English Premier League squads—and remaining team staffers “are leaving in the next hours,” a team spokesperson told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
