Cheerleading competition may have been ground zero for mumps outbreak

Someone with mumps attended a national cheerleading competition last February, prompting Texas health officials to contact all the attendees and warn them to be on the lookout.

Via Live Science:

Thousands of cheerleaders who attended a national competition last month recently received some not-so-cheery news: They may have been exposed to mumps.

On Friday (March 2), officials at the Texas Department of State Health Services sent letters to people who attended the competition - called the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) All-Star National Championship - alerting them that a person contagious with mumps was at the event.

More than 23,000 cheerleaders and 2,600 coaches attended the championship, which took place in Dallas from Feb. 23 to Feb. 25, according to the NCA. The athletes came from 39 U.S. states and nine countries, NCA said.

Officials said that attendees of the competition should be on the lookout for symptoms of mumps for the next few weeks.

Mumps is a contagious viral disease that causes swelling of the salivary glands, leading to puffy cheeks. It can also cause fever, headache, fatigue and loss of appetite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Image: screen shot Misfits S3E7.