5 Vancouver Canucks benched due to mumps

Five players with the Vancouver Canucks are sitting out Saturday’s game because they have or are suspected to have the mumps, the team said Friday.

So far only one player, Troy Stecher, has been confirmed to have the virus, said Canucks general manager Jim Benning. 

Four other players — Chris Tanev, Nikita Tryamkin, Mike Chaput and Markus Granlund — are under quarantine because they have symptoms. 

“We’re taking this very seriously given how easily mumps can spread,” Benning said in a news release.

“We’ll continue to follow all protocols in accordance with the Vancouver Coastal Health guidelines in order to prevent further infection.”

Clockwise from top left: Christopher Tanev, Nikita Tryamkin, Markus Granlund and Michael Chaput. (Ben Nelms/Darryl Dyck/Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press/Alan Diaz/AP Photo)

The team said health authorities will be at Rogers Arena today “to screen players and staff and immunize those who need it.”

Mumps is a viral infection that is contagious and spread through saliva and respiratory droplets and causes swelling of the salivary glands, which are in your cheeks, close to your jaw and below the ears.

Health officials in several provinces say the disease is making a comeback in Canada and the U.S.

A person with mumps is most infectious from seven days before to five days after they have symptoms, which can also include headache and fever, according to health officials.

This is not the first time a mumps outbreak has hit the NHL. 

In 2014, nine players were diagnosed with the disease as the league struggled to contain it. One of the players who contracted mumps that year was Pittsburgh Penguins player Sidney Crosby.