With millions of soccer fans set to descend on North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, experts from Georgetown University and MedStar Health have launched a pioneering Health Security Operations Center (HSOC) to monitor infectious disease transmission and mitigate global health risks.
The HSOC will operate under the joint National Center for Health Security and Resilience, a part of Georgetown University and MedStar Health’s academic health system partnership, and will begin operations on June 1.
The launch comes amid heightened global attention to emerging infectious diseases and the importance of monitoring health threats during international travel and mass gatherings. This summer, more than 6.5 million soccer fans are expected to travel from more than 100 countries for matches happening across dozens of communities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Real-time health monitoring
Localized outbreaks can quickly become international concerns. The convergence of millions of visitors across North America during the World Cup creates a unique need for coordinated, real-time health monitoring.
Drawing on data from wastewater monitoring, hospitalizations, and real-time health reports gathered from host cities, the HSOC will monitor infectious disease risks and deliver timely, actionable information to health officials, health systems, and the public throughout the summer.
“Mass-gathering events like the World Cup require the kind of coordinated, multidisciplinary situational awareness that no single institution or jurisdiction can provide alone,” said Rebecca Katz, PhD, MPH, director of Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and director of the Health Security Operations Center. “Our role is to support the people responsible for protecting public health, such as city health departments, hospitals, emergency managers, and many others by providing data and insight to help them assess a complicated situation and act confidently if a risk emerges.”
Actionable insights
By translating complex disease surveillance data into actionable local insights, the initiative serves as a model for how today’s communities can anticipate and mitigate large-scale public health risks.
“This effort reflects the long-standing commitments by MedStar Health and Georgetown to population health and strong public-private partnerships that make health systems more resilient,” said emergency physician Ethan Booker, MD, FACEP, vice president of care innovation at the MedStar Institute for Innovation and chief medical officer for telehealth at MedStar Health. “The Health Security Operations Center brings together the right people, the right data, and the right partnerships to support innovative, collaborative approaches to health security.”
What the Health Security Operations Center does
The Health Security Operations Center functions as a hub for monitoring potential infectious disease threats and supports the mitigation of global health risks.
Core functions include:
- Monitoring of disease signals across host city regions and communities where travelers originate;
- Integration of wastewater surveillance, combined and de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data, environmental monitoring, open-source intelligence, and international health alerts;
- Daily situation reports distributed to state and local public health departments, health systems, and partner organizations;
- Health alert notices issued if significant risks are detected;
- Monitoring publicly available online discussions and surveys with game attendees weekly, related to emerging health concerns; and
- Translation of complex public health science into plain-language public communications.
“This is exactly the kind of initiative that shows what collaborative, applied health security looks like in practice,” said Timothy Manning, research professor at Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and the emergency operations manager for the Health Security Operations Center. “Our goal is to be a resource to the public health community, to health systems, and to the public.”
Timely opportunity
Manning, Katz, and Booker are leaders of the National Center for Health Security and Resilience alongside Shane Kappler, MD, FACE, FCCP, emergency and critical care physician and medical director, Biocontainment Unit, MedStar Health.
“This is such an important and timely opportunity to innovate in the health security space,” Kappler said. “Throughout the World Cup and beyond, we are committed to building the kind of regional health infrastructure that makes communities more resilient.”
The Health Security Operations Center leads a coalition of more than 30 organizations, spanning academia, public health, technology, and communications. Collaborators include:
- Verily Health, providing pathogen level data from its existing Sightline wastewater sampling network and other government-sponsored wastewater monitoring programs across host cities. In addition, the HSOC will use Verily’s Workbench solution to analyze the wastewater data and integrate it with other publicly-available datasets to create daily situation reports;
- Your Local Epidemiologist, providing near real-time monitoring of online conversation to identify emerging health concerns and translating findings into clear, actionable guidance for the public;
- University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, coordinating formal health alert infrastructure;
- Samsung Electronics America, providing innovative solutions through utilizing its technology including smartphones, tablets, PCs, wearables, interactive displays, smart signage and monitors;
- PAX sapiens, providing strategic thought leadership and support to the initiative, enabling the development and advancement of the HSOC; and
- National public health organizations including the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists; and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
The operations center, located on Georgetown University’s Hilltop Campus adjacent to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, will also serve as a unique “living classroom.” Approximately 12–17 staff members, including graduate and undergraduate students from Georgetown University; Brown University; George Washington University; Washington University; the University of California, Berkley; University of Florida; the London School of Economics, and other consortium partners, will provide supervised support and assistance to the center daily.
Already, more than 350 organizations and individuals, including hospital emergency managers, state and local health officials, federal agencies, and tournament organizers are enrolled to receive daily situation reports.
“This is a unique opportunity for students to learn how to operate at the intersection of science, policy, and emergency management,” added Katz. “They aren’t just watching history; they are helping write the playbook for the future of public health.”
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