Three adults living in Johnson County have been confirmed to have the mumps, the county Health and Environment Department announced Tuesday.
These cases are separate from but may be related to eight unconfirmed cases from December announced late last week that were associated with the University of Kansas in Lawrence, said Nancy Tausz, division director of health services for Johnson County.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus. Mumps, for which there is a vaccine, is not very common in the U.S., although more than 4,000 cases were reported in 2016.
Outbreaks occur from close contact. An infected person may spread the virus by coughing or sneezing, sharing eating utensils or touching objects with unwashed hands. Symptoms usually last seven to 10 days and begin with fever and headache followed by swollen salivary glands.