Between January and April of this year, 38 people in Oregon contracted mumps, more than the combined total number of cases recorded in the state over the last five years, according to a report from OPB FM.
Investigators with the Oregon Health Authority said public health officials are working to identify exposed persons and the possible sources of the outbreak. Several of the mumps cases have been reported in Union County in the northeastern part of the state, according to the report.
"Our total population in the county is 25,000 people," said Andi Walsh, emergency preparedness coordinator with the Center for Human Development in Union County. "Having three cases is what we consider an actual outbreak. So this is considered serious for us."
Mumps can cause painful, swollen salivary glands. It is a highly transmissible virus contracted through person-to-person contact. Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 88 percent effective at preventing mumps, according to the CDC.
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