An old childhood disease appears to be making a comeback of sorts. Manitoba Health says 176 cases of mumps have been reported in the province since September.

Normally, a bad year for mumps in our province would yield between 4 and 8 cases, according to Dr. Richard Rusk, Manitoba's medical officer of health. Rusk says it's the highest number of cases since 1996, which is why health officials are classifying it as an outbreak.

The disease starts with cold-like symptoms, developing into swollen and tender glands at the jaw line or on both sides of the face, along with fever, headache and body aches.

"Before you actually have that sore throat symptom and start to look like a chipmunk, you can potentially spread the virus already," said Dr. Rusk.

Manitoba Health says the disease can spread two or three days before symptoms show up and those infected continue to be contagious for four or five days after symptoms appear.

The virus is found in saliva and is spread from person to person through coughing, sneezing, kissing and coming into contact with an infected person's saliva by sharing drinks.

Dr. Rusk explains the best course of action when diagnosed with the disease

"Self-isolation away from work or school if you are sick is really important. When you've got this sore throat and these swollen glands you're putting out a lot of virus. And obviously, people to make sure they are covering their cough and that they wash their hands frequently."

According to Manitoba Health, in adults and children past puberty, mumps sometimes causes painful inflammation in the testicles or ovaries and in rare cases, men may become sterile and in the most severe cases, the disease can cause deafness or mumps meningitis.

"In the worst scenario, the virus can potentially spread to the brain and that's essentially what we want to prevent."

The vaccine for mumps, measles, and rubella normally protects against mumps, but vaccination rates have fallen over the past few years in part due to an anti-vaccination trend based on a belief that vaccination causes autism. As a result, the lower vaccination rates have contributed to weaker herd immunity.