Thirteen students at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx and Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan have been tentatively diagnosed with mumps.

College campuses, with the abundance of people in close quarters, are the perfect breeding ground for communicable illnesses. Although students must be vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella in order to attend Fordham, university officials said in a statement that vaccines are not always 100 percent effective.

No Pace students have been diagnosed with mumps, but university health care is aware and prepared for any possible outbreak.

“We’ve not experienced an outbreak of mumps here in Pleasantville. We are aware of the mumps outbreak, especially in the [New York] city campus,” Associate Director of University Healthcare and Family Nurse Practitioner Karen Lolli said. “It’s something that we are on top of and aware of, and something we are monitoring for all students that come to university health care.”

Mumps is a contagious illness that typically begins with fever, muscle aches, fatigue, loss of appetite, and swelling of the salivary glands, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC recommends that anyone diagnosed with or believed to have mumps should be isolated, and contact with others should be minimal.

Like Fordham, Pace also requires students to be vaccinated to attend the school. With contagious illnesses such as mumps, it is best to err on the side of caution. However, Lolli is assured that Pace is well prepared for any possibility of an outbreak.

“We would follow the CDC’s as well as the Department of Health’s guidelines, and definitely recommend the student to be isolated. If the student was capable to travel home, they would be encouraged to,” Lolli said. “For a resident student, we would speak with residence life and arrange to have the student moved to a separate room. Any students, like a roommate, who might have been directly exposed, would be notified immediately.”

To prevent the spread of any communicable disease, students are encouraged to wash their hands often, clean items that are frequently touched, and avoid contact with anyone who might be infected.

According to the CDC, most people with mumps recover fully. However, rare complications can occur, especially in those who have reached puberty.

“If you experience any symptoms or have been exposed, you should either come to university health care or see your own provider,” Lolli said.