The Florida Department of Health has confirmed one case of mumps and identified two other probable cases in Hillsborough County.
The three cases are all family members, one adult and two children.
Local public health officials are trying to limit potential exposure and are in the process of notifying people in the community with exposure risks.
Mumps is a contagious respiratory disease and is spread by talking, coughing or sneezing as well as sharing items touched by others.
The department says mumps is best known for puffy cheeks and swollen jaw, caused as a result of swollen salivary glands.
They say symptoms usually appear 16-18 days after infection but can range 12-25 days.
Common symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, and swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides.
“In many instances, mumps is a relatively mild illness, but it has the potential to cause long-term health problems,” said Doug Holt, MD, Director of the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County. “The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine remains the best way to protect not only yourself, but your family and community from the spread of the mumps virus.”
They say children should be immunized against mumps with the combination measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
For more information, visit www.floridahealth.gov[floridahealth.gov]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mumps webpage is available at www.cdc.gov[cdc.gov].
