Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

[DB]

http://www.ketv.com/health/8458459/detail.html

Official: State On Verge Of Mumps Outbreak

Iowa Has Worst Outbreak In Nation In 17 Years


POSTED: 8:38 am CDT April 4, 2006
UPDATED: 8:51 am CDT April 4, 2006

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska may be on the verge of a mumps epidemic, according to the state epidemiologist.

An outbreak in Iowa has crossed into Omaha, and Adams County in central Nebraska hard. The newest suspected mumps case involves a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. State officials said the student was in Indiana on spring break

"We're pretty sure it's arrived here and moved across the river from Iowa," said Dr. Tom Safranek, the state epidemiologist.

Iowa has already seen nearly 300 cases of mumps. The mumps epidemic in Iowa is the nation's biggest outbreak of the disease in 17 years

In Nebraska, 15 suspected cases have come from the Hastings area, and one each from Aurora, Superior, Omaha and Lincoln.

"A person from Superior worked with a railroad crew from Iowa. A person from Aurora had relatives in Iowa and had exposure. There was a wrestling team from central Nebraska wrestling in Council Bluffs," Safranek said.
Nearly all public schools and universities require students to get mumps vaccinations. But state health officials said it's not 100 percent effective. They suspect the virus is picking on those who did not respond to the vaccine or for some reason have lost immunity.
"There's clearly a concern. Cases are going up in Iowa and we're going to see the same in Nebraska," Safranek said.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a Web page dedicated to mumps. It includes photos that show the classic swollen glands and cheeks from mumps. Experts said those infected may not show symptoms for a few days, but may still be contagious.
"That's why it can keep spreading and be very difficult to control," Safranek said.
Health officials said mumps usually goes away in 10 days, but complications could lead to things like viral meningitis.

 

[DB]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4055363

April 4, 2006 - The mumps outbreak in Iowa is now linked to at least three cases of the disease in Illinois.
There have been 245 confirmed cases of mumps in Iowa over the last few months. Health officials there are warning the disease is spreading to neighboring states.
So far in Illinois, there are eight confirmed and three suspected cases. Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include swollen cheeks, fever and a cough. Most people have been vaccinated for mumps but doctors say young children can be especially vulnerable -- if they are not fully vaccinated.
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Iowa officials say this is the biggest outbreak there in nearly two decades.

 

[eladdie]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Mumps cases have doctors confounded

Iowa's total now tops the annual average number reported for the entire nation.

TONY LEYS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

April 5, 2006


Sara Breitbach's aching jaw is at the center of a medical mystery.

Why are hundreds of Iowans suddenly coming down with mumps?

By Tuesday afternoon, the state health department was reporting 300 confirmed or suspected cases of the viral disease, which has been rare in the United States for 25 years. The new Iowa total is 35 more than the annual average for the entire nation over the previous five years.

Breitbach, a 20-year-old University of Iowa sophomore, is a typical case. As a child, she received two vaccinations against the once-common affliction. "I didn't even know what mumps was until Thursday," she said.

She woke up that day with a sore jaw, "but I didn't really think anything of it." Then the university sent out an e-mail warning about the mumps outbreak. The next morning, she went to the student health center, where Dr. Eric Evans concluded that she had the mumps.

He sent her home to Manchester so she wouldn't infect her sorority sisters, and he told her to stay away from other people over the weekend. The left side of her face puffed up, but she said she didn't feel that bad. Tuesday afternoon, Evans told her she could return to class today.

Evans said about a dozen students have come to his center with apparent mumps cases. "Some people have fevers and feel pretty awful," he said. "Some are hardly sick at all."

In Black Hawk County, Public Health Director Tom O'Rourke said his area had 37 confirmed mumps cases. "That was as of 10 minutes ago," he said. "It's probably gone up since then."

O'Rourke said the outbreak is puzzling. "We don't have any historical precedent for this at all." He noted that before mumps vaccinations became common in the late 1960s, the disease mainly targeted young children. Now, it is striking young adults the hardest, with the average age of Iowa patients being 21.

Although most patients recover after a few days, the mumps can cause serious side effects, including sterility, deafness and meningitis. The disease generally is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. O'Rourke said outbreaks crop up occasionally, but they rarely spread the way this one has. "Something like this makes us question our whole approach to mumps," he said.

Among the questions to be investigated is whether the childhood vaccine is losing its effectiveness, O'Rourke said. "I'm not saying it is, but that's one thing that should be looked at."

The state health department says the current strain should be covered by the vaccine, but it notes that the shots are ineffective in about 5 percent of people.

Patients who believe they have the mumps are urged to call their doctors. In most cases, if the disease is suspected, doctors will ask patients to isolate themselves for a few days until they're no longer contagious. Some people exposed to mumps, including health-care professionals, are being tested to see whether they are immune.

The epidemic began in earnest six weeks ago in the northeast part of the state. It has attracted national attention, including from college sports teams that have shied away from competition with Iowa schools that have had outbreaks.

Thirty-nine counties, including Polk, have reported mumps cases in recent weeks. More than two-thirds of the cases have been in the eastern Iowa counties of Dubuque, Johnson, Black Hawk and Linn. All of Iowa's neighbors except South Dakota also have reported cases, but none has nearly as many as Iowa.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060405/LIFE02/604050345/1001/NEWS

 

[eladdie]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Kansas -

Ten more cases of mumps have been diagnosed in Douglas County, authorities said this afternoon, bringing the total to 21 since last week.

?It?s a concern, definitely,? said Sheryl Tirol-Goodwin, a spokeswoman for the Douglas County Health Department. ?It?s been a concern since Friday.?

Most of the cases are in people between ages 19 and 26, she said. Seven of the first 11 cases were in Kansas University students, but Tirol-Goodwin didn?t have the breakdown for the latest cases.

Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands that is passed through saliva and causes swelling in the jaw, as well as headaches and fever. Health officials recommend frequent hand-washing and other hygienic measures to prevent its spread.http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/apr/06/10_more_cases_mumps_diagnosed/

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

How Iowa Got the Mumps

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1181613,00.html

The largest outbreak of mumps to hit the U.S. in nearly 20 years has epidemiologists scratching their heads. After all, the illness, with its characteristic inflamed salivary glands and swollen throat, is relatively rare in North America, thanks to the widespread availability of a childhood vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (the so-called MMR shot).

...By last week, however, the total of known and suspected cases had jumped to 365, and the disease seemed to be spreading to nearby states. Illinois and Kansas have reported spikes in mumps infections. And although the outbreak appears to have started in college-age adults, the latest information shows that mumps is now striking people ages 2 to 80.

...What's really puzzling about the Iowa outbreak is that most of the victims seem to have been fully vaccinated. Among those whose medical history has been confirmed, two-thirds got both of the required doses of MMR.

...From the Apr. 17, 2006 issue of TIME magazine​

 

[myredchinablues]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Thanks for the update. I guess it would be useless to get a mumps vaccination since it must not be mumps. At least it isn't killing people.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Officials puzzled by mumps outbreak
By MARK ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/04/12/local/doc443c2ee294f74192984289.txt

Five suspect cases of mumps in Lancaster County fit into a Nebraska outbreak of 55 cases puzzling health officials.

Related: Where are the cases?

Cases are spread over 14 counties, including 18 in Adams, eight in Clay and five in Douglas. All but three involved people younger than 45. Eight cases have been confirmed.

Officials say the virus appears to have spread to Nebraska from Iowa, where 365 cases have been confirmed this year.

The puzzle? Many contracting this infection had previously received the two recommended doses of MMR vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is involved, said Tim Timmons, public health nurse with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

Timmons urged people to see whether they were current with vaccinations.

The thought is: ?If the rate of immunization was not as high as it is, how many more cases might there be??

Four suspect cases were reported in the weeks before March 3, according to Nebraska Health and Human Services. There were 16 cases reported the week ending March 25. On Tuesday, the count jumped 19 from a day earlier.

The virus spreads through respiratory droplets. Timmons gave the standard advice: Cover your cough. Wash your hands.

Mumps, an infection of the parotid glands, beneath each earlobe, rarely lead to serious complications. But the disease can take people out of circulation for a week or more.

Particularly in adults, mumps can lead to temporary inflammation of testicles and ovaries, Timmons said, but it does not cause sterility.

People become infectious two or three days before the onset of symptoms. They are no longer contagious five days after symptoms appear, although they may still experience lingering illness. Typically, people start to feel better after about five days.

Those who get sick should stay home from work or school and contact their health provider by phone.​

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Health officials grapple with mumps outbreak

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14320718.htm
​

TOPEKA ? Vaccinations and common sense are the best ways to avoid becoming a statistic in the outbreak of mumps, Kansas health officials say.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 48 cases had been reported to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, including 37 in Douglas County.
Other cases were in Geary, Johnson, Leavenworth, Norton, Saline and Shawnee counties.


Most of the cases affected people ages 20 to 30, but a few cases involved children under 10 and adults over 30.
Iowa has had the nation?s biggest outbreak, with 515 cases. Nebraska has had 30 and Missouri fewer than five. States are comparing notes to see whether there are patterns linking the cases, Kansas health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 615 cases had been reported in nine states this year.


Howard Rodenberg, director of the Kansas Division of Health, said that in a normal year Kansas has no more than three mumps cases. Last year the state reported none.
?It is clear that Kansas is seeing more cases than we?re used to seeing,? Rodenberg said.


Health officials are looking for commonalties among patients to explain the outbreak but so far haven?t found a link, he said.


Officials have ruled out the possibility that the outbreak is a form of mumps for which the immunization given to children doesn?t work.


It?s no surprise that many cases involved students at the University of Kansas, officials said, because students living in close quarters are more likely to spread diseases through ordinary contact.


Mumps is a virus that can cause swelling in the jaw below the ear, along with fever and tenderness in the glands. It can be transmitted through saliva, sneezing or coughing. Children are required to receive two mumps vaccines before entering school in Kansas.


Kansas has an immunization rate of 77 percent of all children by age 2, Rodenberg said, and 96 percent by the time students enter school.
Gail Hansen, state epidemiologist, said three-quarters of the people in the current outbreak had had at least one mumps vaccine in their lifetimes.
One person developed viral meningitis, and another developed swelling of the testicles, both symptoms of more severe cases.


Almost every state requires mumps vaccinations before children enter school, Hansen said.


Mumps occurs worldwide, peaking in late winter and spring. The number of cases has been declining since vaccinations began in the 1960s, though there was a resurgence of the virus in 1986 and 1987, the CDC said.
It is good that outbreaks of the disease make national and international news, Rodenberg said, because it indicates to the public how well immunization and good health policy work.


?Because 50 years ago, without vaccination, these diseases were rampant in society,? Rodenberg said. ?We?re not in that era where we lose kids left and right to preventable infectious diseases.?

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Minnesota health officials investigate 14 suspected mumps cases

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/14324699.htm
​

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota health officials are investigating 14 suspected mumps cases in the state. That's five more suspected cases than announced Monday.


The number of confirmed new cases remains at three, and the Health Department plans to update statewide case totals today.


Officials say there are seven cases of mumps so far this year. In a typical year, six or seven Minnesotans come down with the disease.


In Iowa, more than 365 people have contracted mumps since the beginning of the year. That outbreak has caused Minnesota officials to be more alert, especially in the southern half of the state. Confirmed cases have been reported in Scott, Rice and Jackson counties.

 

[emmysue]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

CDC Eyes Air Travel in Mumps Epidemic

Published April 12, 2006, 9:22 PM CDT
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/sns-ap-mumps-in-the-air,1,2875705.story?coll=chi-news-hed
ATLANTA -- Two infected airline passengers may have helped spread Iowa's mumps epidemic to six other Midwestern states, health officials said Wednesday, the latest example of how quickly disease can spread through air travel.

"These people may have exposed other people on those planes or in these airports," said Kevin Teale, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The mumps epidemic is the nation's first in 20 years. Health officials say 515 suspected cases have been reported in Iowa, and the disease also has been seen in six neighboring states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Monday, Nebraska has 43 reported cases; Kansas, 33; Illinois, four; Missouri, four; Wisconsin, four; and Minnesota, one.

The Iowa health department identified two people who were potentially infectious when they were traveling in late March and early April.

Officials in other states have not yet linked any cases to the air travelers. But because the illness's incubation is two to three weeks, cases may not begin appearing until about now, Teale said.

This week the CDC put out an advisory about the passengers to state health departments. "Infectious diseases can travel easily on planes and other modes of transportation," said Dr. Jane Seward, acting deputy director of the CDC's viral diseases division.

The first traveler is executive director of a Waterloo, Iowa, downtown development organization who in late March was in a delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C.

The woman, Terry Poe Buschkamp, had earlier visited the Dominican Republic where she thinks she may have caught the bug. Health officials did not release her name, but she has acknowledged her infection to the media.

Buschkamp, 51, left Waterloo, Iowa, on March 26 on a Mesaba Airlines flight to Minneapolis and then flew Northwest Airlines to Detroit. On March 26, she flew to Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. During her visit, she shook hands with Iowa's two U.S. senators, Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley, she said.

She returned to Waterloo on March 29 on Northwest and Mesaba flights, with a stop in Minneapolis.

She said she developed a scratchy throat upon her return, and after hearing reports of a mumps outbreak, went to a doctor for testing. She got confirmatory test results six days later.

During those six days, she had been to church and numerous work events, including an April 1 pub crawl that involved about 370 people. Mumps has been a mild disease for most people, but Buschkamp found the length of time she was able to spread the virus before learning her test results alarming.

"That's the real story," she said.

She said two of her fellow travelers have told her they have mumps-like symptoms, but have declined to see a doctor about it.

The second person was a young man returning from vacation in Arizona on April 1, Teale said.

He flew American Airlines, from Tucson to Dallas, then to Fayetteville, Ark., to St. Louis and finally to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Two people -- and nine flights? "It's hard to get anywhere (from Iowa) without connecting," Teale explained.

Mumps is a virus-caused illness spread by coughing and sneezing. The most common symptoms are fever, headache and swollen salivary glands under the jaw. But it can lead to more severe problems, such as hearing loss, meningitis and fertility-diminishing swollen testicles.

No deaths have been reported from the current epidemic.

A two-dose mumps vaccine is recommended for all children, and is considered highly -- but not completely -- effective against the illness. About a quarter of the Iowans who have suspected cases got the vaccine, Teale said.

 

[eladdie]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

Mumps cases multiply in Missouri, Illinois

04/17/2006

The number of reported mumps cases rose in Missouri and Illinois over the weekend.

The most dramatic rise was in Missouri, where the number of cases jumped to 17 from 5.

In Illinois, cases climbed to 79 from 72.

None of the cases was in the St. Louis area.

"You would think with the larger population and the airport, there would be cases in the St. Louis area," said Brian Quinn, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "It?s probably only a matter of time."

The mumps epidemic began in December in Iowa and has mushroomed to more than 600 cases in that state alone. Iowa health officials usually see only 5 to 10 cases a year.

The outbreak has since spilled into eight neighboring states, which have reported more than 200 additional cases.

Mumps is a viral infection spread by sneezing, coughing and sharing cups or other objects that have been in contact with saliva.

Symptoms can include fever, weakness, headache, muscle pain and swelling of glands close to the jaw. About 20 percent of cases don?t show symptoms.

Complications can include deafness, swelling of the brain and swelling of the ovaries in women and testes in men.

A vaccine introduced in 1967 is about 95 percent effective.

So far, Missouri cases have been reported in the north, west and northwest parts of the state, closer to Iowa, where the epidemic is centered, and Kansas, which also had been hard hit.

Most of the Illinois cases have clustered in the northern part of the state, mainly near the Iowa border. However, cases have been reported recently in Clinton, Franklin, Jackson, Randolph, Washington and Williamson counties in the southern part of the state.

No new counties are involved in the updated report, said Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Both state health departments recently sent health alerts informing the public to check vaccination records and to be diligent about good hygiene, particularly frequent handwashing.

The agencies also reminded health professionals to consider measles when diagnosing illnesses.

Quinn said the increase over the weekend was largely due to a lag in data entry and report submission from local public health agencies across the state.

Another possible contributor to the increase was an expanded working definition of mumps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has said a case with symptoms suggestive of mumps should be considered "probable mumps," even if lab results indicate it is negative, because vaccination earlier life can distort test results.

 

[emmysue]

Mumps Cases Spread in Neb., 8 Other States

Mumps Cases Spread in Neb., 8 Other States

Mumps Cases Spread in Neb., 8 Other States
Monday, April 17, 2006; 7:12 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701189.html

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska, which is part of an nine-state mumps epidemic, is now reporting 110 cases of the disease in 22 counties, health officials said Monday. Thirty-two of those cases are confirmed.

"Currently, most of our mumps cases are in southeastern Nebraska," said Dr. Anne O'Keefe, epidemiologist for the state Health and Human Services System.

She said most of the cases are among people ages 10 to 18 and 35 to 45.

"However, we're seeing cases in children as young as 2 and adults up to age 64," she said.

The mumps epidemic is the nation's first in 20 years.

Some 600 suspected cases have been reported in Iowa, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are also cases reported in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches and swelling of the glands close to the jaw. It can cause serious complications, including meningitis, damage to the testicles and deafness.

Mumps is spread by coughing and sneezing.

No deaths have been reported from the current epidemic.

A two-dose mumps vaccine is recommended for all children and is considered highly _ but not completely _ effective against the illness.

According to HHS, Nebraskans ages 30 to 65 years old are the most at risk to catch the disease because they probably never were vaccinated or had the disease.

Nebraska law for years has required two doses of the mumps vaccine before a child can enter school or college. Thus Nebraskans under the age of 30 who followed the K-12 and college entry requirements probably have been vaccinated.

Nebraskans over the age of 65 are likely to have natural immunity to the virus. Many in this age group had mumps as a child.

Two infected airline passengers may have helped spread Iowa's mumps epidemic.

Iowa health officials last week identified two people who were potentially infectious when they were traveling in late March and early April.

The CDC said the present outbreak is the nation's biggest epidemic of mumps since 269 cases were reported in Douglas County, Kan., from October 1988 to April 1989.

A mumps vaccine was introduced in 1967.

 

[emmysue]

Mumps outbreak baffles officials

Mumps outbreak baffles officials

Mumps outbreak baffles officials
HEALTH:The obscure disease has infected more than 800 people, the largest U.S. outbreak in two decades.
Posted on Mon, Apr. 17, 2006
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/14359955.htm

MINNEAPOLIS - After getting diagnosed with mumps, Sara Breitbach spent five days in isolation, hiding behind a surgical mask that her doctor ordered her to wear. But the University of Iowa sophomore could not hide when health officials tracking a strange new outbreak of the disease came to interrogate her.

They wanted answers, fast: Where did you go in mid-March for spring break, during the 13-day incubation period? From what city did you fly to Mexico? Where in Chicago did you stay, the night before? Who was with you?

"The truth is, I don't really know how or where I could have gotten the mumps," Breitbach, 20, said last week. "But the Johnson County health people kept asking me lots of questions. And then more questions. And then even more questions."

An epidemic of mumps is continuing to spread across the Midwest, afflicting even people who have been immunized against the once-common disease. More than 800 cases have been reported in nine states, including Minnesota -- the largest U.S. outbreak in two decades. And public health officials don't know why.

In a growing scramble to contain the outbreak, state health officials and investigators from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scouring airline passenger manifests and poring over patients' medical records. They also are sounding alerts on college campuses, where the cases are clustered.

The investigation, authorities say, could offer fresh insight into the limits of immunization in an increasingly global society.

Symptoms for mumps include swollen glands around the jaw, fever and headache. Up to 20 percent of infected people may not carry any symptoms, said Claudia Miller, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health. Others may have mild cases, she said, "so you can have the virus circulating and not have it come to detection."

But mumps, which can spread in an assortment of ways, including sneezing and coughing, can be a more serious illness, especially in adults, health officials said. In rare cases, it can lead to hearing loss, meningitis, and severe pain and swelling in the ovaries and testicles, possibly leaving men sterile, Allen said.

The CDC said Friday that about 20 mumps patients in the current outbreak have been hospitalized with suspected meningitis, encephalitis and testicular inflammation.

Two rounds of vaccination are believed to be 90 percent to 95 percent effective in preventing the illness, CDC officials said. Also, the United States has a high vaccination rate -- about 93 percent of children younger than 2 had at least one dose of the vaccine in 2004, CDC officials said.

Without such a high vaccination rate, they said, there would likely be thousands of cases by now. But the disease has taken hold in people who thought they were protected.

The epicenter of the outbreak is in Iowa, where more than 600 confirmed or "probable" cases have turned up, with dozens of others suspected, said Kevin Teale, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Health.

About 200 confirmed or suspected mumps cases also have been reported in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri, the CDC said Friday night.

Health officials in Minnesota are monitoring the outbreak closely, putting doctors on alert to look for the illness and report it when they see it, state epidemiologist Dr. Harry Hull said.

"It's not time to panic, but it's time to be concerned," he said.

 

[KC]

Re: Mumps Outbreak In Iowa Spreading Quickly

I had mumps two times as a child before the vaccination process began. The first time was the worst, the second time just sucked. At the time, "you could only get mumps once".

At the time, the explanation was that I "didn't build up enough immunity" at the first exposure. The first time was really bad, the second time really sucked. Both exposures were enough to know I didn't want to ever get this virus (or any virus) again.

Little was known then (and now) about how a virus changes to infect people.

Viruses change (Duh).... They can change by "random" mutations or through recombination with existing viruses that they have similiar "traits" with. Which ones are more prevelant? Which ones cause the greatest risk?

I am more confused as ever about how things will play out in the end of this mess with H5N1. I want to know who the experts really are and what their gut fellings are... Not what their "agencies" or "alliances" tell them to say.

Use a moniker if you must!!!! We will figure out if you are an expert one way or the other. I want the facts and the most educated opinions based upon the facts.....

The underlying goal is preparedness and education..... eventually survival.

Sorry for the rant...