The Jersey Shore nightclub where a possible mumps outbreak originated won't open this weekend.
The owner of the Belmar bar D'Jais, Frank Sementa, made the decision to close the place this weekend about two weeks after the first employees and patrons contracted the virus.
This week, the Monmouth County Health Department has confirmed one case of mumps and another 26 other possible cases. Most of the people who probably contracted the virus either visited or worked at the bar.
"If we opened up this weekend there would have been a possibility that some of our employees might have it, be carrying it, not know it, and spread it," Sementa said.
Some of the people with possible cases of mumps were admitted to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where they have been treated and isolated. Hospital ER chairman Robert Sweeney said the virus can be transmitted easily.
"If I were in a bar with no wind, and we're sneezing and there's droplets in the air, you can inhale those droplets," Sweeney said.
The virus can also be spread by sharing items, such as cups, used by an infected person.
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When a person contracts mumps, it typically takes 5 days for symptoms to appear. They include the swelling of salivary glands along with fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.
