FRISCO — There are now six confirmed cases of mumps among Keystone Resort employees in Summit County, according to Summit County Public Health Nurse Manager Sara Lopez.
The first case was confirmed Tuesday morning after Keystone officials sent the group of employees to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center late Feb. 1 “out of caution,” according to Aaron Parmet, infection prevention manager at the hospital.
Lopez said the number of confirmed cases could continue to increase as the investigation continues.
“We’re very early still in the investigation,” Lopez said Wednesday. “The situation is evolving and … it would not be unusual to see additional cases.”
Public health officials said there is “minimal risk” to members of the public who have recently been to Keystone, and there is “no known spread into the larger community,” according to a fact sheet emailed to the Summit Daily News by Lopez.
Mumps is a contagious viral disease that causes pain and swelling in the salivary glands in the cheeks, along with fever and fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease spreads through saliva, meaning it can be contracted through kissing, coughing or sneezing, or touching contaminated surfaces. Mumps has an incubation period of 16-18 days and about one-third of people who have the virus don’t have symptoms, making it more difficult to track.
Outbreaks of mumps are relatively rare and usually occur among groups of people who live in close quarters. In April and May of 2019, six cases of mumps were confirmed among Arapahoe Basin Ski Area employees and people with whom they’d had contact.