Campus Alert Archive
CofC

A Mumps Outbreak That Grew to 70 Cases Despite Vaccination

SCdisease outbreakadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

South Carolina health officials declared a mumps outbreak at the College of Charleston after three people tested positive on September 23, 2019. The outbreak ultimately reached about 70 cases by December 11, 2019, and the college held MMR vaccine clinics on campus in response.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
College of Charleston
Public Masters · SC
~10,000 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction261 chars
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has declared a mumps outbreak at the College of Charleston. Please review your MMR vaccination status, watch for symptoms such as swollen salivary glands, and contact Student Health Services with concerns.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed paraphrase: reporting confirmed DHEC declared the outbreak after three positive cases on September 23, 2019, and that the college communicated with students, but the verbatim advisory text was not published.
Typed as an advisory because a disease outbreak is a public-health notification rather than a Clery emergency-notification or timely-warning crime category.
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction195 chars
An update on the campus mumps outbreak: case counts continue to rise. The college is hosting MMR vaccine clinics on campus. We strongly encourage students to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed: The College Today documented President Hsu's November 14, 2019 update on the outbreak and the college hosted two two-day vaccine clinics, but the verbatim notification text was not published.
DHEC and the CDC recommend two MMR doses, which the campus messaging emphasized as cases rose.
Context

Background

The College of Charleston is a public liberal-arts and sciences institution in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina. In fall 2019 it experienced one of the larger campus mumps outbreaks in the country. The Post and Courier reported that South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control declared the outbreak after three people tested positive on September 23, 2019, and that the initial cases involved both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. ABC News 4 reported the count reaching roughly 70 cases, and the Post and Courier later confirmed about 70 cases by December 11, 2019. In response, the college and DHEC hosted on-campus MMR vaccine clinics. The outbreak underscored that even highly vaccinated student populations can sustain mumps transmission, and it adds a public-health notification to a South Carolina archive otherwise dominated by hurricanes and crime alerts.
Analysis

Key Findings

DHEC declared the outbreak after three positive cases on September 23, 2019, and it grew to roughly 70 cases by December 11, 2019
Cases included fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated individuals, illustrating breakthrough mumps transmission
The college and DHEC responded with on-campus MMR vaccine clinics rather than closure
Outcome
The outbreak grew to roughly 70 cases by December 2019. The college and DHEC held on-campus MMR vaccine clinics; cases included vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated individuals.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    7 new mumps cases confirmed at CofC, bringing total to 18 since September - The Post and Courier
    postandcourier.com
  2. News
    Mumps cases at College of Charleston rise to 61 - The Post and Courier
    postandcourier.com
  3. Official
    Update On CofC Campus Mumps Outbreak - The College Today
    today.cofc.edu
  4. News
    C of C mumps outbreak reaches 70 cases - ABC News 4
    abcnews4.com
Tags
disease-outbreakmumpspublic-healthsouth-carolinacharlestonvaccination
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion