On Thursday night, The Student Health Center announced that there has been a mumps outbreak on campus. The current students affected are no longer contagious, but there is a possibility that other students may be infected.

As a precaution, several major events on campus have been cancelled or postponed, most notably Dance Marathon, an annual tradition, which raises money for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. The event is currently being rescheduled to an undisclosed time in the future once the mumps no longer proves any threat.

Dean of Students Mark Bandas provided more information regarding this precautionary move in   an email to the Hustler. Multiple groups were involved in helping Vanderbilt plan out how to handle this recent outbreak, according to him.

“The decision to reschedule Dance Marathon was made in light of University consultations with the Centers for Disease Control, Infection Prevention experts at VUMC, the Metropolitan Nashville Health Department, and the Tennessee Department of Health. All of these experts recommended rescheduling this event,” he wrote.

Although this outbreak pushes back Dance Marathon, Dean Bandas made it clear that the leaders of the event are very committed and determined to carrying through with it in the future.

“I want to strongly encourage the entire campus community to support our Dance Marathon program and make this event the most successful in its history,” he wrote.

Dean Bandas also added that the vaccine, which is required for all students, is not 100% effective and anybody could be infected. As such, he recommends that students read more about the mumps, as provided in Thursday’s email and information provided on the Student Health Center’s website.

“In this situation, self-care and prevention are the appropriate courses of action,” he wrote.

Ashley Detherage, president of Dance Marathon, provided a statement to the Hustler about the event, which will be rescheduled for this semester.

“We are optimistic about rescheduling our event and look forward to continuing our work with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and all of our participants and supporters,” she wrote.