College Football Program Lists 32 Players on Injury Report Amid Disease Outbreak

An ongoing mumps outbreak appears to have taken its toll on one college football program in the days before it’s set to play a game this weekend.

San Diego State has listed 32 players on its first availability report amid the outbreak, and the San Diego County Public Health Services said in a bulletin to students at the university that they know of 14 cases of people who have mumps.

Confined to an athletic team

College Football Program Lists 32 Players on Injury Report Amid Disease Outbreak — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Those cases were said to be entirely limited to a single athletic team, and the San Diego Union-Tribune previously reported that it was the football team where the outbreak took place.

It is unknown how many players will be able to appear when San Diego State plays its first Pac-12 football game against Texas State this weekend.

Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis did not identify which players were listed on the report because of the outbreak, citing federal privacy laws. The school said the players were no longer contagious.

Almost three-dozen players listed

Of the 32 players listed on the report, nine are confirmed as out for this weekend’s game, including defensive backs Braylon Cardwell and Dalesean Staley, quarterback Stone Saunders, and tight ends Jack Ellis and Parker Guiltinan.

Eight additional players were named doubtful, including tight ends Jack Lua and Elijah Muliufi, in addition to running back Javion Kinnard and wide receiver Justius Lowe.

“The football gods have not really favored us with the injury luck,” Lewis said.

He added: “Guys have got to be ready to step into the light when the time comes… We’ve been given a nice storm here. But this too shall pass, and we’ve got to be able to see our way through it.”

Other examples of college football outbreaks

The most obvious and recent example of an outbreak in college football was during the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused havoc not only worldwide, but during the 2020 season, when nearly every team in the country experienced a cancellation or postponement over the virus.

At least 45 programs canceled their entire seasons, and a further 139 regular season games were called off or delayed because of the outbreak. The SEC canceled just two games, while Big Ten teams had to stop 14 matchups that year.

The 1998 incident

More than two decades before, one sudden outbreak of norovirus ran through an ACC matchup between Duke and Florida State when, during the 1998 season, 43 Blue Devils players fell ill with acute gastroenteritis after eating contaminated sandwiches before the game.

Several players became sick on the sideline and in the locker room and then passed the virus to 11 Florida State players during physical contact in the game. The incident was recorded in medical journals as being the first time a viral pathogen spread between teams during a contact sport.

Pac-12 play opens this weekend

San Diego State and Texas State are scheduled to kick off at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday night. We’ll see who makes it on the field.

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