Iowa Mumps

Mumps is an acute viral infection characterized by fever and nonsuppurative swelling of the salivary glands.

In 2006, by March 28, Iowa reported 219 mumps cases, and an additional 14 persons with clinically compatible symptoms were investigated in Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota. This became the largest epidemic of mumps in the U.S. since 1988.

To educate healthcare professionals in Iowa about mumps, Iowa’s Health Alert Network (HAN) distributed information in weekly electronic newsletters and through frequent conference calls.