The number of lab-confirmed mumps cases recorded this year in the Edmonton zone climbed to nine on Thursday.
That number is up by three since Wednesday. On March 1, the number of confirmed cases so far in 2017 was six in the Edmonton region and four in the Calgary area.
On Thursday, Alberta Health Services revised the number of Calgary cases to three, explaining one was removed because the patient is not an Alberta resident.
READ MORE: AHS launches mumps info website as Alberta cases increase slightly
“A lot of the medical identification does take time, whether that be time for investigation or time for lab testing to come back,” said Dr. Chris Sikora, medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services. “We only report confirmed cases and that’s either lab-confirmed or people who exhibit clinical illness and are linked to a lab-confirmed case.”
Mumps outbreaks have been declared in the south zone, where there are nine cases, and at the University of Alberta, where there are six, the U of A confirmed.
As of Thursday, a total of 21 cases of mumps have been confirmed across the province in 2017, the new AHS mumps website reads.
“With many of the cases across the province, they are occurring in the younger age population: 18 through 29,” Sikora said.
“When we have a lot of these outbreaks, that’s historically the population that does seem to get a lot of the mumps, whether that’s due to people just being out together at the same time or in the same geographic locations, that just seems to be the population that is impacted largely.”
Sikora also said “a few” of the cases across Alberta were children.
Last week, the University of Alberta said four of the cases involved students enrolled in the School of Business and they were all linked. On Thursday, the U of A said two of the three new mumps cases were at the university.
The advisory at the U of A came after nine cases of mumps were reported in southern Alberta, after exposure to the virus from some players for the Medicine Hat Tigers, a team in the Western Hockey League.
READ MORE: Western Hockey League tries to minimize spread of mumps as AHS warns of outbreak
Mumps is a highly contagious viral infection. It has an incubation period of about two weeks. After that, the symptoms will kick in: fever, headache or earache, tiredness, sore muscles, dry mouth, and the trademark puffy cheeks and neck — known as parotitis.
The mumps virus is found in saliva and respiratory droplets and is spread through coughing, sneezing and coming into contact with saliva by kissing, sharing drinks, utensils, food or water bottles.
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Mumps usually goes away in about 10 days, but, in some cases, it can cause complications that affect the brain, the testicles, the ovaries, or the pancreas.
READ MORE: Hockey handshakes in Alberta banned during mumps outbreak
The increase in cases has prompted both Hockey Calgary, Hockey Alberta and the Calgary Minor Soccer Association to temporarily halt handshakes. It also recommended players not share water bottles.
With files from Carmen Chai and Karen Bartko, Global News
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