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Mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It typically starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swollen salivary glands. You can protect yourself and your family against mumps with vaccination.

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Mumps Outbreaks

Mumps is no longer very common in the United States, but outbreaks continue to occur. Outbreaks have most commonly occurred in places where people have had prolonged, close contact with a person who has mumps, such as attending the same class, playing on the same sports team, or living in the same dormitory.

Make sure you are protected against mumps with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

See Mumps Cases and Outbreaks.

Protect against Mumps

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MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine is the best way to protect against mumps.

If you think you or someone in your family may have mumps, let your doctor know right away.

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