June 3, 2026 | 01:07 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States has equipped all major airports with testing systems aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola during the FIFA World Cup 2026, according to Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the first edition of the tournament to feature 48 national teams and will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The competition is scheduled to run from June 11 to July 19.“We have deliberately put testing tools and mechanisms in place at major airports ... where travelers will be passing through,” Oz said during a White House press briefing on Tuesday.Oz also expressed confidence in the ability of Jay Bhattacharya, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), to help prevent Ebola from entering the country and infecting Americans.“I have great confidence in Jay. He is a brilliant scientist and knows a great deal about viruses,” Oz said. “He is a courageous person who will make the right decisions and be transparent.”On May 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.According to United Nations data, as of May 31, the DRC had confirmed 210 Ebola cases and 17 deaths. Authorities were also investigating about 350 suspected cases, while 16 healthcare workers had been infected.Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease that is transmitted to humans from wild animals such as bats and non-human primates.The virus can then spread from person to person through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, secretions, or organs of an infected individual, as well as through contact with contaminated materials.The United Nations estimates that Ebola has an average fatality rate of around 50 percent, although mortality rates have reached as high as 90 percent in some previous outbreaks.First identified in 1976, Ebola’s first large-scale and most complex outbreak occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. According to the WHO, more than 28,600 people were infected during that epidemic, and 11,325 died.Read: World Cup: David Beckham to Get Hollywood Walk of Fame Star