More New Jersey Counties Are Reporting Cases Of The Mumps

When an easily preventable disease is spreading across New Jersey, it's cause for some alarm.

And in 2024 alone, we've been through the wringer.

There's a pretty nasty case of Norovirus that's spreading across a lot of New Jersey schools and places of work right now.

More on NJ's 2024 Norovirus right here. 

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There's also been an uptick in Measle's cases, which originated in Philadelphia and spread to Jersey earlier this year.

Here's what we know so far about the measles outbreak. 

And most recently we've been following a developing story on an outbreak of Mumps in some counties in New Jersey.

The news first broke earlier this month when a family in Hunterdon County reported coming down with the disease after international travel.

Now it looks as though New Jersey's Mumps outbreak is continuing to spread.

More Cases Of The Mumps Are Being Reported In New Jersey

It may not seem like a lot, but right now there are 11 reported cases of the mumps in New Jersey.

A case was reported in Ocean County, another case was reported in Hudson County and a third case linked to international travel was linked to Somerset County according to Patch.

11 cases may not seem like something to get too worked up over, but Mumps is an extremely contagious virus that can spread like wildfire if the situation isn't monitored.

How To Tell If I Have Mumps

I'm no doctor, and you should always seek a medical professional if you suspect you have the Mumps virus but symptoms from what I understand can vary.

Symptoms can start with simple things like a headache, fever, muscle aches and pains, or a loss of appetite.

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Eventually, symptoms could include inflammation of the salivary glands resulting in puffy cheeks that are synonymous with mumps.

Swelling could also appear in other tissues and glands like breast, reproductive, and brain tissue, leading to complications later in life, according to Patch.

The Mumps is preventable through the MMR vaccine, and although there's no cure the virus usually passes within a few weeks and you'll want to take plenty of time to rest and monitor your symptoms.

That's not the only problem plaguing Jersey at the moment sadly.