Mumps Outbreaks Nationwide

Mumps continues to be in the news as outbreaks are now reported in Iowa, Nebraska, California and Guam.

Los Angeles, California, has had at least six confirmed and three probable cases of mumps in 2010, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Four of these cases may be related to the outbreak in New York and New Jersey.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the same outbreak of mumps has spread to Quebec and to Israel. Haaretz confirms that over a dozen Israeli cases can be tied to New York. The Montreal Gazette identifies an outbreak in the Jewish community of the city that is tied to New York's outbreak, and a large number of cases in rural Native American communities.

Iowa and Nebraska also have mumps outbreaks, unrelated to each other and to the New York outbreak.

The twenty Nebraska mumps cases all seem to be tied to an alumni gathering in March at the Columbus Scotus High School. Six cases are confirmed and fourteen are probable, per the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports at least eight cases of mumps, revolving around students at Dordt College in Sioux Center.

In New York, a small outbreak was reported by the State Health Department at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. There have been at least three confirmed cases of mumps and two probable. Plattsburgh is located about 60 miles south of Montreal, Canada.

Little current information is available for the New York and New Jersey mumps outbreak. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services reports that as of March 16 that state had 280 confirmed and probable cases. Around 1,360 cases were reported for New York in mid February.

Guam, an island west of Hawaii in the Pacific, is an organized but unincorporated territory of the United States. The Guam Department of Public Health reports over 200 confirmed and probable cases of mumps in 2010. The danger with this outbreak is the risk of mumps spreading throughout the close knit Micronesian nations of the region.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) state that mumps can cause the following complications:
"The most common complication is inflammation of the testicles (orchitis) in males who have reached puberty; rarely does this lead to fertility problems.

Other rare complications include:

• Inflammation of the brain and/or tissue covering the brain and spinal cord (encephalitis/meningitis)
• Inflammation of the ovaries (oophoritis) and/or breasts (mastitis) in females who have reached puberty
• Deafness"

The CDC has a website with much more information about mumps, its symptoms, treatment and vaccination to prevent the illness. The CDC specifically addresses false claims that vaccines cause autism.