Will Mumps Surface in Northwest Arkansas?

It`s the country`s first mumps outbreak in decades -- and it may touch Northwest Arkansas. KNWA`s Alexa Hamblin explains. Officials with the state health department say less than two weeks ago, a man with mumps flew into and out of XNA Airport and Northwest Arkansans were his fellow passengers. Anyone who traveled on April 2nd and flew American Airlines flights 3617 from Dallas to XNA, or 5399 from XNA to St. Louis should contact the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services. Here`s why: On April 2nd, a man infected with mumps began a trip that took him from Tucson, Arizona, to Dallas, Texas, then here to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, and then onto St. Louis, Missouri, before reaching his final destination in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Anyone who came in contact with the infected man or his saliva could have been exposed to the mumps virus. University of Arkansas Nurse Manager Lyn Edington explains, "Mumps is spread by respiratory droplets... coughing or sneezing. You`d have to be within close proximity of the infected person. You`d have to be within three feet." As of now there have been no reported cases of the mumps in Arkansas this year. Around the country, though, mumps has become a serious concern. More than 600 people, mostly college students, have contracted the virus in Iowa and six other neighboring states. As the nurse manager at the University of Arkansas, Lyn Edington fears the mumps could surface here. Edington says, "It`s the complications from mumps that can be serious, it can affect the testicles, ovaries, the lining of the brain." The health department says they have contacted most of the passengers from the flights mentioned above, but not all of them. Anyone exposed to mumps from riding on a plane with the infected man would likely be experiencing symptoms of the disease by now. Symptoms of the mumps include coughing and sneezing, swelling of the glands near the jaw, fever, and aching muscles. For KNWA... Northwest Arkansas news... I`m Alexa Hamblin.