Updated Feb. 20, 1:30 p.m. The number of mumps cases has increased from five on Feb. 5 to 16 as of Feb. 20. This article has been updated to reflect these new developments.
The LSU Student Health Center has confirmed 16 student cases of mumps, as of Feb. 20. Four new cases have been reported since Feb. 12, when the Student Health Center reported only 12 cases.
Fifteen of the 16 students with mumps live off campus, according to LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard. The one student who lives on campus lives alone in an on-campus apartment and is following the public health quarantine.
The mumps outbreak was communicated Feb. 4 to students and faculty in a broadcast email after the first confirmed case was presented at the Student Health Center on Jan. 31, according to Rebecca Fontenot, director of wellness and health promotion at the Student Health Center.
Mumps is a contagious disease spread by contact with infectious respiratory secretions and saliva. Being in the same room as someone with mumps does not constitute exposure. Direct contact with respiratory tract secretions spreads the disease.
When someone contracts mumps, the salivary glands under one or both ears swell, causing puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw, according to the CDC. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite. Symptoms usually appear 16 to 18 days after a person becomes infected.
There is no specific treatment for mumps, but most people fully recover within two weeks. However, mumps can occasionally cause serious complications.
Receiving two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best way to prevent mumps. While the vaccine is not 100% effective, a person with two doses of the MMR vaccine will experience an 88% reduction in risk for mumps, according to the CDC.
Proof of immunity to mumps or two doses of the MMR vaccine is required for all students at the University. Most students on campus should be protected due to the vaccine, according to the Student Health Center.
All 16 students with mumps were in compliance with the University’s MMR vaccination requirements, Ballard said.
Anyone who has not received two doses of the MMR vaccine is recommended to get the vaccine as soon as possible. A third MMR vaccine is recommended for anyone who has come into contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps, Fontenot said.
Another mumps outbreak occurred at the University in 2017. About 17 student cases of mumps were confirmed in mid-March that year, with several more students showing symptoms of the disease.
The 2017 mumps outbreak was part of a larger trend. A 2016 study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined the number of mumps cases that year was the highest it had been in 10 years. In 2016, 5,311 mumps cases were reported to the CDC.
Students with swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears or jaw on one or both sides of the face should seek care at the Student Health Center or with their primary care provider. Students with mumps symptoms must be kept in isolation for at least five days from the onset of salivary gland swelling.
The Student Health Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Students and faculty can receive the MMR vaccine at the Student Health Center Injection Clinic, which is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Certain student priority groups can receive the MMR vaccine free of charge at the Student Health Center. These groups include students who haven’t received both doses of the vaccine and students who have received the two doses but have had direct contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps.
On Feb. 11, other “high risk” student groups were identified: LSU tennis team members, Tiger Band members and students in fraternities or sororities. Students in one of these high risk groups can receive the MMR vaccine free of charge.
For students who do not fall under a priority group, the cost for an MMR injection is $96.03, which can be paid upon service or applied to students’ fee bills.
The Office of Public Health also identified certain faculty priority groups who can now receive the MMR vaccine free of charge at the Student Health Center. These priority groups include employees who have had direct contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps, campus healthcare professionals who are responsible for direct patient care and LSUPD officers who come into direct contact with ill students while on emergency calls.

 Click here to learn more about mumps.
The LSU Student Health Center has confirmed twelve student cases of mumps, as of Feb. 12.
Eleven of the 12 students with mumps live off campus, according to LSU Media Relations Director
Ernie Ballard. The one student who lives on campus lives alone in an on-campus apartment and is
following the public health
quarantine.
The mumps outbreak was communicated Feb. 4 to students and faculty in a broadcast email after the first confirmed case was presented at the Student Health Center on Jan. 31, according to Rebecca Fontenot, director of wellness and health promotion at the Student Health Center.
Mumps is a contagious disease spread by contact with infectious respiratory secretions and saliva. Being in the same room as someone with mumps does not constitute exposure. Direct contact with respiratory tract secretions spreads the disease.
When someone contracts mumps, the salivary glands under one or both ears swell, causing puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw, according to the CDC. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite. Symptoms usually appear 16 to 18 days after a person becomes infected.
There is no specific treatment for mumps, but most people fully recover within two weeks. However, mumps can occasionally cause serious complications.
Receiving two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best way to prevent mumps. While the vaccine is not 100% effective, a person with two doses of the MMR vaccine will experience an 88% reduction in risk for mumps, according to the CDC.
Proof of immunity to mumps or two doses of the MMR vaccine is required for all students at the University. Most students on campus should be protected due to the vaccine, according to the Student Health Center.
All 12 students with mumps were in compliance with the University’s MMR vaccination requirements, Ballard said.
Anyone who has not received two doses of the MMR vaccine is recommended to get the vaccine as soon as possible. A third MMR vaccine is recommended for anyone who has come into contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps, Fontenot said.
Another mumps outbreak occurred at the University in 2017. About 17 student cases of mumps were confirmed in mid-March that year, with several more students showing symptoms of the disease.
The 2017 mumps outbreak was part of a larger trend. A 2016 study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined the number of mumps cases that year was the highest it had been in 10 years. In 2016, 5,311 mumps cases were reported to the CDC.
Students with swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears or jaw on one or both sides of the face should seek care at the Student Health Center or with their primary care provider. Students with mumps symptoms must be kept in isolation for at least five days from the onset of salivary gland swelling.
The Student Health Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Students and faculty can receive the MMR vaccine at the Student Health Center Injection Clinic, which is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Certain student priority groups can receive the MMR vaccine free of charge at the Student Health Center. These groups include students who haven’t received both doses of the vaccine and students who have received the two doses but have had direct contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps.
On Feb. 11, other “high risk” student groups were identified: LSU tennis team members, Tiger Band members and students in fraternities or sororities. Students in one of these high risk groups can receive the MMR vaccine free of charge.
For students who do not fall under a priority group, the cost for an MMR injection is $96.03, which can be paid upon service or applied to students’ fee bills.
The Office of Public Health also identified certain faculty priority groups who can now receive the MMR vaccine free of charge at the Student Health Center. These priority groups include employees who have had direct contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps, campus healthcare professionals who are responsible for direct patient care and LSUPD officers who come into direct contact with ill students while on emergency calls.