Officials say the number of suspected mumps cases in Monmouth County has grown to 36.
Lab tests confirmed one of the suspected cases was mumps.
Most of the cases have been linked to D'Jais Bar and Grill in Belmar, N.J. -- located just south of Asbury Park. The popular Jersey Shore establishment voluntarily closed last week and 32 employees were given the mumps vaccine.
County health coordinator Michael Meddis tells the Asbury Park Press the median age of those under investigation is 26. All but one are adults and 39 percent of the cases are females.
"Individuals are continuing to come forward to report mumps-like symptoms," Meddis told the paper.
"If you believe that you may have been exposed to someone who has experienced mumps-like symptoms, call the Monmouth County Health Department," Meddis said.
Some of the people with possible cases of mumps were admitted to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where they have been treated and isolated. Hospital ER chairman Robert Sweeney said the virus can be transmitted easily.
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"If I were in a bar with no wind, and we're sneezing and there's droplets in the air, you can inhale those droplets," Sweeney said.
The virus can also be spread by sharing items, such as cups, used by an infected person.
When a person contracts mumps, it typically takes five days for symptoms to appear. They include the swelling of salivary glands along with fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.
