Editor’s note: This story was shared as part of a content-sharing agreement between Mosaic.NJ.com and NJ Spotlight News. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter (or X). At Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, the staff is preparing for the worst-case scenario that could be coming from a few miles away. Hudson Regional is the closest hospital to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where several soccer matches in next summer’s World Cup — the biggest sports tournament in the world — are set to be held. And 15 months out, Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, CEO of the 200-bed facility, said he has had little guidance from New Jersey health officials or event planners. He is unsure how Hudson Regional fits into the larger plan if there is a disease outbreak or mass casualty event. The games at MetLife — including the final championship game — will likely attract close to 100,000 people each, including fans, staff and volunteers. “There hasn’t been any proactive process from the state or anybody else in reaching out to us as hospitals in preparation for this huge event that’s coming,” Kifaieh told NJ Spotlight News. “What’s the first phone call? Does it go to the state? Does it go to some sort of command center that the state puts together?” World Cup leaders and state officials said they have begun public health planning in advance of the event — in addition to mapping out transportation and accommodation strategies. A national network of communicable disease experts is also working to coordinate prevention, response and mitigation efforts. But the details haven’t reached those like Kifaieh. “It would be great to see what the plan looks like [and] make sure everybody understands it,” Kifaieh said. “God forbid there is a mass casualty event because if there is, there’s going be a preparedness issue, and there’s going be a capacity issue” when it comes to clinicians and hospital beds, he said. Games in N.J. New Jersey will host eight games next year as part of FIFA’s 2026 World Cup, which involves teams from 48 nations competing in 11 American cities — including East Rutherford, home of MetLife, and Philadelphia — and five sites in Canada and Mexico. The final will be played at MetLife on July 19, 2026. Along with the excitement around the potential economic opportunities from involvement in an event that generates worldwide attention and can add billions in business and revenue for each region, there is growing concern about traffic issues connected with the games. Health care leaders want to ensure public health is also a priority for those planning for the World Cup. All large-scale events present opportunities for foodborne illness or the spread of communicable diseases, like COVID-19 and measles, but public health experts underscore the additional risk that comes with hosting an international event that could involve pathogens uncommon or unknown in the U.S. N.J.’s health approach “Global diseases for a global event,” Dr. Kaitlan Baston, the state health commissioner, reminded lawmakers in a conversation about the World Cup during a recent State House hearing on the state budget. “Our ability to detect, track and respond to health threats depends on investments we make now. We cannot build this plane as we fly it,” Baston said. This work is complicated by federal funding cuts to health care, she said, and the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, a global organization that monitors disease. “To protect our residents and guests, we’ll need coordination. We’ll have to step up laboratory capacity for rapid testing, expand multilingual messaging capabilities, and conduct a whole lot of food safety inspections,” she told lawmakers. Disease experts are preparing Communicable disease experts are working nationwide to prepare for the tournament, a total of 78 games over nine weeks that can seat 7 million fans, officials involved with the event said, with each game involving thousands of vendors and volunteers. The World Cup in Dubai in 2024 attracted people from 150 countries, they said. The National Special Pathogen System, a federally funded network of experts designed to protect against new and evolving communicable diseases, held a tabletop exercise in January involving more than 500 people nationwide. Focusing on potential health challenges during the World Cup, participants explored what would happen if there was an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, a rare but potentially fatal coronavirus first identified in the Arabian Peninsula. The NSPS’s executive director, Shelly Schwedhelm, an emergency management and bioterrorism expert in Nebraska, said the tabletop exercise highlighted several challenges. Work is continuing to ensure there is lab capacity for testing special pathogens that might be detected, something only certain designated testing facilities can do, she said, and to coordinate transportation systems in case infectious patients need to be moved to special care facilities, possibly across state lines. The need for communication The tabletop exercise also underscored the importance of effective communication among the multiple federal, state, local and private-sector parties involved, Schwedhelm said. This is magnified by the fact that some teams and fans — many of whom may not speak English — will be traveling between multiple locations, increasing the potential for disease spread. “Let’s just say we have a scenario where we have an entire family in New York City with a confirmed special pathogen. And maybe because of the exposures impacted, we’re not just talking about a regional response,” Schwedhelm said, given how the people exposed may have traveled to the match from multiple states. “Now we’ve got to think about the bigger picture. We need to quarantine people. We need to move people,” Schwedhelm said, noting that only select hospitals are equipped to care for special-pathogen cases. “Depending on the pathogen, that can be a very big deal,” she said. In the New York-New Jersey region, the designated facility is Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Public health preparedness Planning meetings for the tournament are taking place within the New York – New Jersey region. The New Jersey State Police is leading the work in this state, and the state Department of Health has also been involved, officials said. A meeting last week included representatives for local public health services. These local services, a network of 100-plus county and municipal offices, are responsible for much of the state’s public health duties like tracking disease outbreaks and inspecting food vendors. The New Jersey Hospital Association has also been engaged in planning through the health department. “Public health preparedness is a key component of our ongoing efforts to ensure a safe and seamless experience for all. Engagement has taken place at all levels of government, and intensive planning efforts are ongoing,” Dr. Matt Steenberg, chief medical officer for the regional host committee, told NJ Spotlight News in an email. State Police officials called public health preparedness a “core component” of their ongoing planning in advance of the World Cup. The agency has been working with local public health officials, emergency responders and health care systems to build a “unified, resilient response network” to protect everyone involved with the events, Sergeant First Class Charles Marchan told NJ Spotlight News in an email, a process he said is underway and will continue to expand in 2025 and 2026. “This coordination is vital for building a comprehensive preparedness framework and fostering the trusted partnerships that are critical in large-scale, multi-jurisdictional events,” Marchan said. “We believe that local expertise is indispensable,” Marchan said. “Public health preparedness isn’t just one piece of the puzzle — it’s foundational to delivering a safe, secure, and seamless experience.” Multiple agencies involved Officials with the New Jersey Association of City and County Health Officers, which represents local public health offices, worry that people might get sick eating food from unlicensed vendors. They fear that fans who are sick will go to the game regardless instead of losing out on a once-in-a-lifetime event they paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to see. And they know any outbreak that results could mean their staff is tasked with tracking down hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other people who may have been exposed at the stadium or on mass transit. “Wrapped within this are language and cultural concerns, which may make standard processes, like education and contact tracing, that much harder,” the association’s president, Linda Brown, said in an email. “The reality is that a lot of agencies and levels of government factor in here.” Brown, and Kifaieh from Hudson Regional Hospital, also stressed the need for public education around health safety, especially regarding communicable diseases. Schwedhelm said organizers are discussing screening protocols — possibly using infrared temperature sensors or other technology — at the events, but reminding people to cover their coughs and wash their hands is also important. “From a communicable disease perspective — infectious disease and preparedness — we’re not there,” Kifaieh said. “But look, we can say the same for every other country, right? No country is prepared for the massive introduction of infectious disease, at least not right now.” Welcome to Mosaic. Follow us on Instagram at @MosaicNJcom and on Facebook at MosaicNJcom and on YouTube at @MosaicNJcom.