Mumps found at Toronto restaurant Ki
Posted July 23, 2011 2:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto Public Health is investigating after four employees of a Bay Street restaurant were found to have mumps.
The risk to patrons of Ki Restaurant is low, the city said. However, if you were at the restaurant on or between July 7 and July 18, watch out for symptoms.
They include: swelling and pain in one or more salivary glands (sides of the cheeks and jaw), fever, headache, muscle aches and pains, fatigue and loss of appetite – and they could occur up to and including August 12.
“If you were at the restaurant during this period, and you experience symptoms of mumps, please call Toronto Public Health at 311, and call your doctor and indicate that you may have been exposed to mumps,” Dr. Irene Armstrong, associate medical officer of health, said in a statement.
“Persons diagnosed with mumps or suspected of having mumps should stay home and refrain from having visitors for five days to avoid spreading the infection to others,” she added.
It’s uncommon for people in Toronto to contract mumps. Most people are immune because of past infection or have been fully vaccinated. In the past six years, 15 cases of mumps have been reported every year on average.
Most people who get mumps recover fully within two weeks. Serious illness associated with mumps is rare and includes swelling of the brain (encephalitis), meningitis, and orchitis in men (inflammation of the testicles).
Women who become infected with mumps during the first three months of pregnancy are at risk of miscarriage.
The mumps virus is most commonly found in saliva. It is often transmitted when an infected person shares a cup, utensils or cigarettes or through kissing, or by coughing and sneezing.
Click here to read a mumps fact sheet.
