Renewed Wave of Mumps in N.S. No Cause for Alarm, Say Health Officials

By JAMES KELLER AND HANNAH ZITNER

HALIFAX (CP) – Nova Scotia has seen a new wave of infected patients in its growing mumps outbreak with 50 new cases reported in the past week alone, though health officials cautioned Friday that the increase isn’t cause for alarm.

Dr. Shelly Sarwal, a medical officer of health for Nova Scotia, said 272 cases have been reported across the province since the outbreak began in February, up from 222 reported last Friday.

Sarwal said the outbreak appeared to have slowed before the latest spike, which is typical for viruses like the mumps.

“When it’s being spread from one person to another, you see waves,” she said in an interview. “We think last week we were in a trough between two waves, so things had appeared to slow down a bit. This week, we’re into the next wave, and we do expect to see more cases.”

Dozens of cases of the highly contagious virus were reported in Nova Scotia earlier this year, many at universities in the Halifax area. In recent weeks, the mumps has spread to other parts of the province, with more than 60 per cent of patients aged 17 to 24.

Cases have also been reported in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.

In Toronto, health officials have been warning the handful of cases in the city could climb, especially after one infected young adult spent a number of hours last week at a crowded bar.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it can take from 12 to 25 days for symptoms to appear after a person has been exposed to the virus.

Alain Desroches, a spokesman for the agency, said the increase in Nova Scotia wasn’t a surprise, and the outbreak appears to have reached a plateau.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that it’s going to end like it did for previous outbreaks like this, where it won’t result in sustained widespread transmission,” he said from Ottawa.

Desroches did not know the total number of cases reported across Canada, but said those figures would be available by Monday.

Young adults are particularly at risk because their age group has received only one dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Since the mid-1990s, two doses have been given.

Desroches said youth were also susceptible because they are more likely be in crowded social settings or share drinks and cigarettes.

People with the mumps are typically told to stay home for nine days to prevent infecting others.

However, Nova Scotia’s health officer said patients can be contagious up to a week before they show symptoms, while others can become infected without ever developing symptoms.

“Those things make it difficult to control,” said Sarwal.

Symptoms include aches, pains, fever, loss of appetite and swollen saliva glands.

The virus also infects the testicles in up to 30 per cent of male patients, leading to a painful condition known as orchitis.

There are other more serious side effects, including rare cases of meningitis, encephalitis or deafness.

Sarwal said there has been one report of deafness in Nova Scotia, though it wasn’t yet clear whether the patient’s hearing loss is permanent.

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On the web:

www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/mumps.html