A U.S. Navy warship that was deployed to the Persian Gulf has been quarantined at sea for more than two months because of a virus outbreak.
In a CNN report via mySanAntonio, 25 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Fort McHenry have been infected with Parotitis, a viral infection similar to the mumps. Sailors aboard the Whidbey Island-class docking ship starting showing symptoms for the first time in December 2018.
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Viral parotitis is an infection of the saliva glands on either side of the face typically caused by the mumps.
Sailors that were infected were quarantined and treated in the onboard medical facilities while the living areas were cleaned and disinfected. No one had to be taken off the ship.
"None of the cases are life-threatening and all have either already made or are expected to make a full recovery," Fifth Fleet said in a statement emailed to Business Insider. Since the first case was detected at the end of last year, 24 of the 25 infected individuals have returned to duty.
The U.S. Navy told CNN that port calls were canceled, effectively quarantining the ship at sea while medical teams worked to get the situation under control. Exercising caution, it was determined that all of the 700 service members received booster shots for measles, mumps and rubella.
The Fort McHenry, which carries elements of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, will be receiving a US military medical team specializing in preventative care will be deploying to the Fort McHenry in the near future to assess the crew and MEU's health.
As only a small portion is infected by the virus, routine unit-level training operation have continued with some modification to the training schedules.