German health experts on Friday warned football fans coming to the World Cup to have themselves vaccinated against measles, following an outbreak in a state that will host 11 matches.
More than 1 100 people in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia have caught the disease in the past ten weeks, according to authorities in the state.
Heinz-Josef Schmitt, from Germany’s leading centre for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute, said all World Cup visitors who have not been given measles jabs should get them before coming to the tournament.
Schmitt said the measles epidemic has caught the attention of the World Health Organisation, which was ”concerned” about the situation.
An expert from Rostock university, Emil Reisinger, said there was a high risk of catching measles in crowded football stadiums and at post-match celebrations as it is an airborne disease.
Six World Cup matches are being played in Dortmund, including a semifinal, and five in Gelsenkirchen, both of which are in North Rhine-Westphalia, during the June 9 to July 9 tournament. — AFP
