Mumps confirmed at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

At least one confirmed and 2 suspect cases of Mumps disease have been identified at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the La Crosse County Health Department reported today.

These cases follow other universities reporting mumps cases and outbreaks at the  Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mumps virus/CDC

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mumps is a contagious disease that is caused by the mumps virus. Mumps typically starts with a few days of fever,headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, and is followed by swelling of salivary glands.

Mumps is spread by droplets of saliva or mucus from the mouth, nose, or throat of an infected person, usually when the person coughs, sneezes or talks. Items used by an infected person, such as cups or soft drink cans, can also be contaminated with the virus, which may spread to others if those items are shared.

Symptoms typically appear 16-18 days after infection, but this period can range from 12-25 days afterinfection.

It is usually a mild disease, but can occasionally cause serious complications. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page.

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) infemales who have reached puberty and deafness.

Anyone who is not immune from either previous mumps infection or from vaccination can get mumps.