MAQUOKETA, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) -- The Maquoketa School District is alerting parents about two suspected cases of mumps at Cardinal Elementary and the Middle school.
The Iowa Department of Public Health hasn't yet confirmed the cases, but the schools are warning people to be on the look out for fever, headaches, muscle aches and swollen glands under the ears.
It can take two to four weeks for symptoms to develop. The disease is usually mild, but there's a rare risk of male sterilization and brain swelling leading to death.
Most kids have two doses of the mumps vaccine by the time they start kindergarten.
"No vaccines are 100 percent effective, there is, there's always a variable on how effective they are so there is always a potential even if you are fully vaccinated that you could have or get the mumps," said Sarah Hobbs with the Jackson County Health Department.
"We require age four on that they get two doses of MMR. If they have the two doses then they are nine times less likely to get mumps," said school nurse Chelsea Browman.
Preventive measures include washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough. Also avoid sharing utensils or water bottles.
The last outbreak of mumps in Iowa was in 2015 and 2016 when 450 college students had the mumps at the University of Iowa.