FAYETTEVILLE -- No new mumps cases have been identified at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville since the Jan. 13 start of the spring semester, a university spokesman said Thursday.
"The soonest the outbreak could be [officially] over is considered to be Monday, Feb. 10th, assuming [there are] no cases between now and then," said Zac Brown, a spokesman for the UA Pat Walker Health Center.
The UA campus mumps outbreak has resulted in 37 identified cases since September, according to the most recent state Department of Health update.
The Health Department has said the mumps incubation period -- the time it takes for symptoms to appear after exposure -- is 26 days. An outbreak can be declared over only when two incubation periods have passed with no new cases, according to the Health Department.
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha with the department confirmed that there have not been any new mumps cases associated with the UA campus. She said "sporadic" mumps cases have been identified elsewhere, but she didn't know of any other outbreaks in the state.
Mumps is a viral illness that can result in serious complications, although most people recover completely.
Students without two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine have been prohibited from UA campus class activities since a November directive from the Health Department. Brown said 47 students are excluded from attending class on campus. The university has about 27,500 students.
Faculty and staff members who don't meet a separate Health Department directive also have been excluded from campus since the start of the spring semester.
Brown said 83 workers are being excluded from campus for not following the health directive. The number has decreased by more than half since the first week of the semester, when UA Senior Vice Provost Terry Martin said 194 faculty and staff members were not in compliance with the directive. Martin said about 4,800 workers have been required to show compliance under the directive.
Having two doses of the vaccine reduces the risk of mumps by about 88%, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state had an outbreak of mumps in 2016 and 2017 with nearly 3,000 cases, according to the Health Department. Researchers in the academic journal Vaccine have called it the second-largest mumps outbreak in the U.S. over the past 30 years. State health officials have said the UA campus health directives are attempts to avoid another large outbreak.
Brown said Health Department workers again offered the vaccine this week at the student union, a continuation of outreach efforts that have included several impromptu vaccination clinics on campus.
Mark Rushing, a UA spokesman, said no classes have been canceled because of instructors being excluded from campus.
"The numbers of individuals not yet in compliance with the [state Health Department] directive continues to dwindle every day," Rushing said in an email.
State law allows for exemptions from vaccine requirements for religious, philosophical or medical reasons. But the exemptions do not mean that affected people can necessarily continue going to campus for work or to attend class.
Brown said that out of the 47 students excluded from class, 14 have state-approved exemptions.
Among faculty and staff members, 20 have state-approved exemptions, Brown said.
Metro on 01/31/2020