ENID, Okla. — Oklahoma State Department of Health and county health departments continue to investigate an outbreak of mumps as confirmed cases rise to more than 50.

OSDH updated the weekly mumps outbreak summary Thursday morning — 56 cases of mumps have been confirmed in Northwest Oklahoma.

Mumps is a virus spread through coughing, sneezing and direct contact with saliva through eating or drinking after an infected person, according to Garfield County Health Department. Symptoms can last seven to 10 days and usually appear 12 to 25 days after infection.

Mumps is characterized by puffy cheeks and a swollen jaw, due to swollen salivary glands. Other symptoms include body aches, tiredness and fever, and males may experience swollen, painful testicles, according to the department.

The average age for mumps victims is 14, but ages range from 6 months to 51 years old. There have been no hospitalizations related to these cases.

Most of the people who have contracted mumps have received their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination — 44 cases show a history of the vaccination, and 12 cases were not vaccinated or it is unknown if they were vaccinated, according to the report.

A larger outbreak of mumps in Springdale, Arkansas, is possibly related to the outbreak in Northwest Oklahoma.

There are more than 300 confirmed or suspected cases of mumps in Northwest Arkansas as of last week, according to news website Arkansas Matters.

Enid Public School Communications Director Amber Graham Fitzgerald said the district is continuing to work with the county health department.

“We continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of the illness in schools and in the community,” she said in an email. “We are requiring compliance with state vaccination laws for students to be in attendance.”

In order to prevent spreading mumps, children who exhibit such symptoms should not attend school or day care through five days after the illness begins, according to the department.

Asher writes for the Enid, Oklahoma News.