Scoop: Trump admin pre-blames Europe for any World Cup Ebola

• The implied message: Any outbreak of the Ebola virus in the U.S. would be Europe's fault.

Driving the news: The State Department last week sent an extraordinary request to European countries calling for travel restrictions from Central Africa, where the outbreak began.

• "European countries must do their part to ensure this outbreak does not spread further," a State Department official told Axios. "Action is required now."

The World Cup kicks off Thursday and runs through July 19, with a record 48 teams, 104 matches and 11 of 16 host cities inside the U.S. Other matches will be in Canada and Mexico.

• It's expected to draw 5 million to 7 million international visitors to the U.S., the State Department estimates — including players, staff and fans from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Ebola outbreak is centered.

Zoom out: A Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda has infected more than 500 people and killed more than 90, according to the latest reports.

• WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency on May 17. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, Bundibugyo has no licensed vaccine or approved treatment.

Zoom in: President Trump has long disdained WHO, and withdrew the U.S. from it on the first day of his second term based partly on what he called its failures and lack of transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Now, the White House that walked away from WHO appears ready to accuse it — and Europe — of not taking command of the Ebola outbreak.

The administration's objections center on three talking points, according to the senior official. They:

• Claim WHO failed to "immediately report" the outbreak and "misled the world" by not encouraging countries to impose "travel bans and border closures."
• Scold the European Union for following WHO's guidance and resisting travel restrictions and enhanced airport screening measures for travelers arriving from Ebola-affected countries.
• Call on the EU to follow the lead of Canada and Mexico by imposing U.S.-style restrictions on nonessential travel from Ebola-impacted countries.

American officials have been monitoring travelers from African countries — including those with layovers in Europe — and blocked them from entering the U.S.

• In May, an Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was diverted to Montreal after U.S. authorities determined that a passenger from the DRC was aboard.

• The DRC national soccer team is being allowed into the U.S. — but only after spending 21 days in a U.S.-mandated isolation bubble in Belgium.
• The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Houston on June 11 for its team's first World Cup appearance in more than half a century.

The other side: Europe is rejecting the administration's claims.

• WHO and European officials have argued that screening, testing and contact tracing are more effective than trying to seal borders, as the U.S. wants.
• European officials say no EU nation has reported a confirmed Ebola case linked to the current outbreak, and say the risk to the general public is "very low."

WHO officials also have denied dragging their feet on declaring an outbreak. After reports of escalated deaths from illness surfaced on May 5, they say labs didn't confirm the Bundibugyo strain until May 15, and the alert went out quickly afterward.

• They've also noted that Ebola's transmission dynamics differ sharply from COVID-19's.
• Unlike respiratory viruses, Ebola generally requires direct contact with bodily fluids from a symptomatic patient, making mass gatherings — like the World Cup — unlikely settings for transmission.

The bottom line: The Trump administration says it has committed more than $160 million to the Ebola response, and says the chance of an outbreak is low — thanks to the measures it's taken.

• But if there is an outbreak, Trump's team knows who it'll blame.