A case of mumps was contracted by an Oswego State student this week.

This is the first documented case of mumps on the campus in recent history. Oswego State President Deborah Stanley sent a campus-wide email on Sept. 12.

“Earlier this morning, staff from SUNY Oswego’s Walker Health Center informed the administration of what we currently believe is an isolated case of the mumps on campus,” the email read. “…SUNY Oswego is working with the Oswego County Health Department on this matter and awaiting lab results… I assure you that we will be closely monitoring this one case and the health of our entire campus over the next several days, weeks and throughout the semester.”

A student came to Mary Walker Health Center with “classic symptoms” of mumps, according to Angela Brown, Director of Student Health Services.

Brown said these symptoms include low grade fever, tiredness, body aches and swelling of the parotitis glands under the ears and around the upper jaw.

“The Health department was officially elevated SUNY Oswego to an outbreak status in light of the mumps outbreak in New York State,” the email read.

Brown said the students who may contract this viral illness are put in isolation to prevent it from spreading.

“The reason a person has to be isolated from the community is because it is spread by droplets,” Brown said. “So that’s as easy as laughing, coughing, sneezing.”

If a student cannot go home when they are ill, there are several designated areas on campus for them to be separate from their peers.

“A student is put into that room where they’re moved away from their roommates and the community,” Brown said. “They’re not allowed to go to class or the dining hall or anything.”

The student with the mumps went home on Tuesday to recover. They will remain there for a minimum of five days from symptom onset, Brown said.

Most students are vaccinated for mumps with an MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination. Brown said most students on campus have two of these vaccines, which gives a “really high percentage of immunity.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one MMR vaccine gives 77 percent immunity. Both vaccines give about 88 percent. Oswego State requires proof of both vaccinations for a student to attend the school, but this can be waived for religious or medical reasons.

Students who have not received the MMR vaccination are being required to be vaccinated at the Mary Walker Health Center free of charge. The health center offered extended hours to accommodate students who needed the vaccination.

According to the campus-wide email, students who choose not to receive the vaccination must leave campus by Sept. 16 and remain off campus for 26 days.

Health officials are informing students and faculty who may have come into contact with the affected student.

Wayne Westervelt, the Oswego State’s Chief Communication Director, said the administration is considering the safety of the whole campus. He said isolating the infected student is done “with the mindset that we’re trying to be responsible to the entire campus community.”

The college will continue to update students, Westervelt said. He stressed transparency and communication during this time.

“Health and safety of the entire population is really important to us, in addition to the individual case,” Westervelt said.

Mumps is taken more seriously than other viral sicknesses like the flu because it spreads so easily and can have severe consequences, Brown said. In some rare cases, the mumps can have long-term effects including deafness, sterility, infertility and encephalitis.

Oswego State will work with state leadership to follow state health department recommendations for how to proceed, according to Oswego County Health Department’s Public Health Director, Jiancheng Huang.

Huang said this case raised some concerns because of a recent outbreak of mumps in Long Island. There have been no cases of mumps in Oswego County for as long as he remembers, Huang said.

Mumps is unusual in the United States as well as in Oswego. According to the CDC, the U.S. mumps vaccination program began in 1967. Prior to this program, around 186,000 cases of mumps were reported each year. After the vaccine became available, there was a decrease in cases of over 99 percent.

“Not to my knowledge has there been an actual, positive, documented case here,” Brown said.

Some outbreaks of mumps do still occur.

According to the CDC, “In 2006, there was an outbreak affecting more than 6,584 people in the United States, with many cases occurring on college campuses.”

Huang said vaccinations are important to prevent the disease.

“Our population is well vaccinated,” Huang said. “…Some community members do not vaccinate their children. This is a bigger problem.”

Brown said “pretty common practices” such as hand washing and coughing into the elbow, will help prevent the spread of illness.