Child At Hamilton, NJ School Has Mumps: Officials

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP – A child at a New Jersey middle school has a case of the mumps, officials announced this week.

The confirmed case of mumps involved a student at Grice Middle School in Hamilton Township in Mercer County, according to a letter sent home to parents on Wednesday.

Mumps is caused by a virus and is spread by mucus or droplets from the nose or throat when a person coughs or sneezes, according to the letter.

Anyone who is not immune or vaccinated against the mumps can get the virus, according to the letter.

The most common symptoms of mumps are fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.

Symptoms usually appear 16 to 18 days after infection, the letter said.

If you have any questions, you should contact the Grice school nurse or Hamilton Township Division of Health at 609-890-3884.

This is a developing story. Patch will have more information as it comes in.