Tanner Glass diagnosed with mumps, virus invades Eastern Conference (Update)
The mumps has officially turned into a league-wide problem.
On Saturday, the New York Rangers announced fourth-liner Tanner Glass had the mumps, and was isolated from the team. This is the first known case of the mumps in the Eastern Conference. The problem has festered in the Anaheim, Minnesota and maybe St. Louis locker room over the last month.
Notes Pat Leonard of The Daily News:
"All of the Rangers will receive booster vaccinations, according to the club, and Glass will be isolated from the team through Monday."
On Friday, the Anaheim Ducks said Clayton Stoner was out with the mumps -- Anaheim's third case -- which ended hopes for the team that the locker room was virus free.
If this wasn't considered a league-wide problem before, it has to be now.
“We have an Infectious Disease Subcommittee that works under the auspices of the Joint Health and Safety Committee,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Puck Daddy via email 16 days ago. “We send out notices and precaution instructions on a regular basis.”
That probably needs to get ramped up now. This is not something like the flu, which is a seasonal issue. It's a little bit more delicate.
There's also an incubation period with the mumps, so because of this there could be other players on the Rangers carrying the virus without knowing it.
As for trying to find 'patient zero' ... it's pretty much a futile cause at this point.
As we've noted earlier, it's not a super life threatening issue, but it's still miserable and awful, and can cause sterility in males.
Update: We sent an email to Daly asking if the league has done anything else in regards to this mini-outbreak, since more players have officially been afflicted. The response is below:
"I can't say that we have given any thought currently to doing more than we have done. We have made all the Clubs aware of what we know, and what best practices are in dealing with it. Not sure there is much more we can do."
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