(AP) – Health officials say an outbreak of mumps has
particularly hit a community of Marshall Islanders in northwest Arkansas.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Marshallese people accounted for
about 60 percent of the state’s 2,220 reported cases as of Friday. The outbreak
started in August.
The contagious disease causes swelling in the salivary glands and cheeks.
The Marshall Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. Up to 12,000 Marshallese live
in northwest Arkansas.
State health department director Nate Smith says he doesn’t know why so many
Marshallese people are infected. Officials are investigating if the vaccine is
less effective for certain people.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Arkansas’ outbreak is
the largest since about 3,000 people were infected in New York City in 2009 and
2010.
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