Mumps Outbreak Tops 1,000 in Eight States - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today
ATLANTA, April 19 - The CDC said today that more than 1,000 cases of mumps have been reported in eight states, but Iowa continues to be the epicenter of the outbreak, with 815 confirmed, probable and suspect cases there.
CDC director Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., said at a press conference here that this year's mumps outbreak is the largest to hit the U.S. in more than 20 years.
Other states with confirmed cases are Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin, she said. Seven additional states, which Dr. Gerberding would not identify, are investigating possible mumps cases, she said.
Dr. Gerberding said the CDC has shipped 25,000 doses of mumps vaccine to the Iowa Department of Public Health, and vaccine maker Merck is donating an additional 25,000 doses to the CDC, a gesture that she characterized as both generous and necessary because the CDC is nearing the end of its fiscal year.
The Iowa agency is scheduled to update its mumps reporting tomorrow, but the 815 cases reported yesterday reflect a jump of 210 cases from the data reported April 13. That increase suggests that the outbreak has not yet peaked.
Posted by gruwell at April 20, 2006 9:48 AM | TrackBack