Berkeley High families got an unsettling email on Feb. 2, when Principal Juan Raygoza warned that students, staff and parents who were on campus that day may have been exposed to someone with mumps. District officials emphasized that the alert was sent as a precaution while public health authorities look into the report.
Raygoza and assistant superintendent Noemi Doohan signed the message, which the district spokesperson said reflects all the details the district has so far about the possible case, according to Berkeleyside. The email pointed families to the district nurse as a contact and urged anyone with potential symptoms to call both their doctor and the school.
Who’s investigating and where to call
The City of Berkeley Public Health Division is now working with Berkeley Unified to investigate the possible exposure and track any related illness. The city’s Communicable Disease Prevention & Control program lists a weekday line at (510) 981-5292 for reporting and questions about mumps and other infectious diseases. Families who need school-specific guidance can also reach out to Berkeley Unified’s student health office for instructions on what to do next.
Signs, timing and testing
Mumps often starts out looking like a routine viral illness, with several days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite, followed later by swelling of the salivary glands, according to the California Department of Public Health. If a child develops swelling near the jaw or a persistent fever, health officials say families should call a clinician before showing up in person so the office can arrange testing and take steps to reduce the chance of spreading infection in the waiting room.
How vaccinated is the community?
County and statewide records indicate that most kindergarten-age children in the Bay Area are vaccinated with the MMR shot, which significantly reduces the odds that a single case will snowball into a larger outbreak. Alameda County’s kindergarten MMR coverage in recent reviews has been in the mid-90% range, and statewide coverage topped 96% in the 2023–24 school year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Public health experts generally point to around 95% vaccination coverage as the level needed to help curb community spread.
What families should do now
Families who are unsure whether their child has received both recommended doses of MMR are being urged to check vaccine records with their health care provider or with the school district. The Berkeley Unified student health pages outline which immunizations are required for school and how to update records. Anyone who develops symptoms consistent with mumps should stay home and call a clinician in advance so staff can advise on testing, timing and any isolation steps.
Berkeley Unified and the city’s health department have said they will alert families if the investigation uncovers additional risk or new recommendations. For questions or updates, families can contact Berkeley Public Health’s Communicable Disease Prevention & Control program at (510) 981-5292 or the Berkeley Unified Health Office. The district’s notice also named nurse Nick Koovshinoff as a point of contact, according to Berkeleyside.
