SUNY Geneseo provides masks to students amid mumps outbreak

Officials at the State University of New York at Geneseo have confirmed 14 cases of the mumps among the university's student population, according to a report from the Genesee Sun.

In a campus-wide email relayed by the Sun, Student Health and Counseling Director Erin M. Halligan-Avery, PhD, and Dean of Students Leonard Sancilio, PhD, warned students about the outbreak and communicated the measures the university is taking to limit the spread of the nationally resurgent virus.

"Students who are suspected of having the mumps after being seen by a medical provider have been asked to make arrangements to go home for five days to help prevent the possibility of further infection ... To limit the spread of the virus from one residential community to another, the center has facilitated the doubling of hand-sanitizer units on campus and is making masks available at multiple locations."

The mumps are best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that cause puffy cheeks and swollen jaw. It is a highly communicable disease transmitted by person-to-person contact and is typically accompanied by initial symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.

Recent data released by the CDC shows 2016 has seen more mumps cases than any other year in the last decade.

More articles on infection control: 
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Salmonella, strep, mumps: 5 recent & ongoing outbreaks in the US 
Hepatitis C & HIV treatment drugs used in combination can interact adversely, study shows

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