90-Second Read: Stop fretting over Ebola: Protect yourself from contagious viruses you may actually encounter

If you're anxious about catching rare viral diseases like Ebola and Hantavirus, experts say you should focus on preventing infection from more common viruses instead. Cases of common Hantavirus are rare: Only 890 were reported in the United States over a 30-year period ending in 2023, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the medical world, that's the perfect scenario for a "mass contamination event." So which contagious viral diseases are most concerning to World Cup health officials in charge of protecting the public? Still, many people worry that they may be exposed to Ebola by traveling on a plane with someone from Central or East Africa, where the current outbreak is based, he said.

Found in Argentina and Chile, the Andes strain was responsible for the recent Hantavirus outbreak that killed three people who had been aboard the Dutch luxury cruise ship MV Hondius. The same viruses that experts say you should worry about at home, work and school: Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in existence and is easily contained by a simple vaccine. Washing your hands with plain soap and water is your best protection, not only from viruses but from bacterial and other infections. Glaring headlines about deadly viruses in far-flung places may be needlessly frightening you.

In Africa, Ebola is often spread due to local burial customs: Mourners wash, touch and kiss the still-infectious body as a final farewell. A rare strain of Hantavirus called Andes is the only type of Hantavirus to have limited human-to-human transmission. Your best chance of protecting yourself is, of course, to get all needed vaccines and stay up to date on those vaccines. This is particularly important to people at high risk of a serious infection: small children, pregnant people, and those age 65 and older and anyone who is immunocompromised.

To spread, the Andes Hantavirus needs "direct physical contact, prolonged time spent in close or enclosed spaces, and exposure to the sick person's body fluids," the CDC states on its website. There are excellent vaccines for many of the most contagious viral diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, shingles, polio, RSV, HPV, herpes, rotavirus, influenza and Covid-19. However, vaccination rates for measles and other common viruses are falling fast in the US, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and parts of Europe.