Mumps outbreak hits the Aztecs: 32 players on the availability report ahead of the Pac-12 opener
San Diego County health officials confirmed 14 mumps cases and one probable case tied to a single athletic team the Union-Tribune identified as the football program. The Aztecs listed 32 players on their first availability report, 17 of them out or doubtful, days before Saturday's first Pac-12 home game against Texas State.
SAN DIEGO: San Diego State's first Pac-12 home game is Saturday night, and the Aztecs do not know who will be available to play it. A mumps outbreak has reached 14 confirmed cases and one probable case, according to San Diego County health officials, and the program's first availability report of the week listed 32 players, with 17 of them out or doubtful for the conference opener against Texas State at Snapdragon Stadium.
The university has confirmed the cases are tied to a single athletic team; the San Diego Union-Tribune previously identified that team as the football program. The school first disclosed three confirmed and two probable cases on Sept. 18, all connected to the same team, and county officials released the updated count on Wednesday. The university says the outbreak remains confined to that one team.
Not every name on the availability report is a mumps case. Running back Lucky Sutton is out with a high ankle sprain, guard Michael Leville Watkins is also out, and backup running back Javion Kinnard is doubtful with a knee injury suffered in last week's 41-16 loss at Toledo. The nine players listed as out include defensive backs Braylon Cardwell and Dalesean Staley, quarterback Stone Saunders, and tight ends Jack Ellis and Parker Guiltinan; eight more are doubtful, including tight ends Jack Lua and Elijah Muliufi, Kinnard, and wide receiver Justius Lowe.
The storm
Head coach Sean Lewis declined to say which players are part of the outbreak, citing federal privacy laws. "There's a lot of different things going on that are football-related and non-football-related," Lewis said. "Due to FERPA and HIPAA, I'm not gonna comment any further on that."
On the field, the Aztecs are already in a hole: 1-3 after three straight losses, with the revamped Pac-12 schedule starting now. "The football gods have not really favored us with the injury luck," Lewis told reporters Wednesday. "Guys have got to be ready to step into the light when the time comes. We've been given a nice storm here. But this too shall pass, and we've got to be able to see our way through it."
The health response
The university is working with San Diego County Public Health Services on daily screenings of the team, contact tracing, and testing, and close contacts are being offered MMR booster shots. The school held a free MMR booster clinic Thursday at the Calpulli Center. SDSU has told students that mumps symptoms can develop 12 to 25 days after exposure, and that people with mumps remain contagious for five days after swelling begins.
Saturday's game is the historic one regardless: the Aztecs' first Pac-12 home game, against Texas State, under the lights at Snapdragon Stadium. The question is how many Aztecs will be on the sideline for it.
None to date. The Tribune corrects errors promptly and transparently. Read our corrections policy.
