The Arkansas Razorbacks season seemed like it couldn’t get much worse, with just two wins on the year and several blowout losses to SEC powerhouses, but the team was forced to play its final game of the year without a significant portion of its roster on Friday due to a mumps outbreak on campus.
According to a report last Sunday, a total of nine cases of the mumps were reported at the University of Arkansas. According to Arkansas beat reporter Trey Schaap, Razorbacks secondary coach Mark Smith was diagnosed with the mumps, and John Nabors reports that “around 15 players” would be held out of the game.
This #Mizzou Arkansas game might turn into the worst nationally televised game in the history of the SEC.
Arkansas 2-9 with a quarter of the roster out with the mumps.
Mizzou a five-game losing streak and nothing to play for with bowl ban in place.
— Jacob Kornhauser (@KornSports) November 29, 2019
A mumps outbreak in Arkansas in 2016 resulted in more than 3,000 cases of the disease.
Via Arkansas.gov:
“Mumps is a viral illness that is transmitted by direct contact with respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person. It is best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that show up as puffy cheeks and swollen jaw. Boys may also have painful, swollen testicles. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscles aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite. There is no treatment, and symptoms usually resolve themselves within a few weeks. Mumps is usually a mild disease in children, but adults may have more serious disease with complications. Vaccination against Mumps is available with MMR vaccine.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Dave Matter tweeted that some media members covering the game were contacting their parents to find out if they had received the MMR vaccine.
I've seen a lot of stuff in college football press boxes, but this is a first: Sportswriters here in Little Rock are texting their parents/spouses to ask if they've been vaccinated for the mumps.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) November 29, 2019
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