CHARLOTTE — As many as 60 cheerleaders with Cheer Extreme Allstars in east Charlotte have learned they possibly were exposed to mumps at a national competition in Texas.
The group is just one of dozens across the country that have been alerted that a person at the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championship was later possibly diagnosed with the illness. In all, 14,000 kids from 39 states and nine countries took part in the competition in Dallas last month.
"There was an unconfirmed case, of someone in Dallas, and they were just calling to let us know," explained Kathy Baisley with Cheer Extreme. "We received a call from the state communicable disease branch that asked us to get in touch with the squad leaders for the students that were down in Texas."
There have been no signs of the illness in Charlotte and it's not clear where the child in Texas who possibly had the illness was from.
Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris told us mumps causes swollen salivary glands in the neck and a fever, but it's usually mild.
Health officials say the mumps vaccine is not 100 percent effective, so there's always a risk of infection. Baisley said she has notified the parents of the kids who were in Texas and warned them to look out for any symptoms.
"People that are younger, that have not ever known anyone that had or their children, or they haven't ever had anything like that, I think it's probably a little startling to them," she said.
The group has not cancelled any practices because there have been no signs of the illness. The health department says the incubation period for mumps can be as long as 25 days.
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