With many cases stemming from an outbreak at a Jewish boys' summer camp upstate, more than 1,000 in New York and New Jersey are infected with the mumps, most of them Orthodox Jews. One camper—who caught the old-fashioned childhood disease in England where more than 4,000 are infected—spread the sickness to 25 of his bunk-mates, who then brought it home to their Orthodox communities. Many came from Borough Park, Brooklyn, where in October, 79 mumps sufferers were counted, reports CNN. But the numbers keep growing!
Today the CDC is slated to announce the exact number of confirmed cases in the city (we'll keep you updated). In the state, it's the largest mumps outbreak for five years, traced back to an 11-year-old at a sleep away camp in Sullivan County, NY. Most of those affected are teenagers between 14-18.
Of course there's a vaccine for mumps—a malady with symptoms such as fever, puffy jaws and cheeks and muscle aches—but it won't protect you 100 percent of the time. At the end of October health officials said that that in Borough Park “75% of the victims had the normal two doses of mumps vaccine.” (In Britain, where the outbreak began, they're not so big on vaccinating). Severe cases can lead to swelling of the brain, testicles/ovaries, and deafness.
