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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Once mumps invades a professional sports dressing room, it finds a fertile breeding ground and the NHL is finding that it is not easy to get rid of.Multiple players on multiple teams from coast to coast have come down with the mumps, an illness more typically associated with children.It started in Anaheim and plagued the Ducks, who had three players affected. The Minnesota Wild was next, with five victims. Tanner Glass of the New York Rangers then came down with it, and as recently as Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils had two players turn up sick.It is certainly an outbreak that was unexpected and has caused unwanted disruption at the team level, but it is not something we have any significant control over, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. As long as our clubs are doing what they need to do to minimize risk of contraction, we are hopeful that the wave of cases will run their course and life will return to normal.The Ducks hosted the Wild in mid-October, New Jersey and the Rangers played each other a few days later and Minnesota visited the Rangers not long after that before facing the Devils in mid-November. But it was not clear whether the teams shared the virus with each other or picked it up in other ways.You see the hits that they have, and sometimes the spraying of saliva, said Dr. Judith Aberg, chief of the infectious diseases division at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. I think they are high risk. I am surprised we havent actually seen this before.The illness isnt just hitting hockey players, of course. Students on college campuses have also recently fallen victim in another close environment that promotes spreading of the very contagious virus.It is relatively uncommon since the vaccine was licensed in the early 1960s, but this year weve actually had more cases, Aberg said. In 2013, we had less than 500 cases, and already this year were looking at about 1,000 cases in the United States. One person is expected to infect 10 others.Millions are vaccinated at a young age, but Aberg said the immunity can wane with age and 10 to 20 per cent of individuals who have been vaccinated may not have full protection.The NHL and the players association have provided information to teams and players on ways to protect themselves against the mumps. Vaccination decisions for any disease are made by club medical staffs and the players themselves.The Rangers quickly moved to give boosters to players, and other teams have done the same. The Ducks cleaned and sterilized their entire operation following the outbreak that hit Corey Perry and others. Everyone was encouraged to get re-vaccinated and most did.Some affected players have already returned to the ice, and all should recover without lasting effects.Each season at training camp, players are encouraged to provide their vaccination records. Childhood vaccine programs are fairly universal and accessible worldwide, although arent mandatory in every country, the NHLPA said.The NHLPA has been actively educating the players regarding the recent outbreak, while providing best practices on how to avoid contracting and spreading mumps, players association spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said.Many of the recommendations about locker room and bench behaviour are similar to the standard precautions the NHL provides regarding the flu, which is similarly transmitted.Simple coughing and sneezing and getting those respiratory droplets on each other can cause the spread of mumps, Aberg said. The problem is that it is contagious before you have symptoms. Thats where it gets tricky because you dont know youre going to come down with the mumps, and youre contagious. Then you are contagious for five days or so after you have symptoms.The illness even felled Minnesota ironman defenceman Ryan Suter, the rare American-born player to be affected.Every Wild player was offered a booster shot last month when the virus surfaced. Suter decided not to take it, and paid the price. He was the fifth Minnesota player — all defencemen whose cubicles are next to each other — to come down with the mumps.Suter, who hadnt missed a game since joining the Wild in 2012, led the NHL in ice time each of the last two seasons.I probably wash my hands more than anybody, he said. I go out of the way to make sure Im a clean guy. So for me to get it, it stunk. I always tell these guys, Youve got to be mentally strong and youll never get sick. So theyre all giving me a hard time.___AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham in Anaheim, Calif., and Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report. ST. LOUIS -- Madison Bumgarner figured he would need to be at the top of his game Friday night when he went up against Adam Wainwright. The San Francisco Giants lefty was just that as he struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings. But it was not much of a pitchers duel, as Burmgarners teammates scored seven times off the St. Louis Cardinals ace on their way to a 9-4 win. Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer off Wainwright, who was chased in the fifth. Bumgarner (7-3) allowed three hits and matched a season high for strikeouts set in his previous start against Minnesota. He walked one. He said pitching against Wainwright gave him all the incentive he needed. "You know youve got to be on it," Bumgarner said. "Youre geared up for a 1-0 game. Fortunately for us, he didnt have it tonight. The offence did an unbelievable job scoring runs off somebody like that." Bumgarner said hes been getting on top of the ball more, which has allowed him to hit both sides of the plate. "He was really good tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He was really hitting his spots on both sides. Hes really been solid with his command here lately and he carried that into todays game against a tough lineup." San Francisco has won eight of nine and owns the best record in the majors at 36-19. Pence had two hits and scored twice. Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single and a double, but his run of nine straight games with an RBI was snapped. "Thats just the way it is," Sandoval said. "Theres not much you can do about it." Hector Sanchez and Gregor Blanco each had a two-run single for the Giants, who scored seven runs with two outs. San Francisco has scored 117 runs with two outs, tops in the big leagues. Angel Pagan had two hits and scored twice for the Giants. "I think weve got a really good team all the way around and weve showed it," Bumgarner said. "The defence was really good. It was just a good team win tonight." Jon Jay hit a three-run double off San Francisco reliever David Huff in the eighth. Allen Craig added ann RBI double against Juan Gutierrez.dddddddddddd Wainwright (8-3) entered with a 20-inning scoreless streak and a major league-leading 1.67 ERA. He was trying to become the first nine-game winner in the National League, but lasted just 4 1-3 innings and allowed seven earned runs on eight hits. His ERA jumped to 2.32. "Its a very deep lineup," Wainwright said. "When you take a guy like (Buster) Posey out of the lineup and still have a very dangerous squad, you know you have a deep lineup." The Giants wasted no time ending Wainwrights shutout streak. Pagan led off the game with a double down the left field line. He moved to third on Pences fly to right and scored on Michael Morses two-out single. San Francisco then broke the game open by scoring four times off Wainwright in the second inning after the first two batters were retired. Brandon Hicks kept the inning going by coaxing a walk. Hicks went to third on Bumgarners single to left and scored when Pagan followed with a single to centre. Pence then hit a 447-foot shot into the third deck in left field to make it 5-0. "He said he felt fine," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said about Wainwright. "I think it was just one of those nights. Hes had so many good ones this year, youre going to have those every once in a while." Wainwright was pulled after allowing a single to Sandoval and a double by Morse with one out in the fifth. Sandoval and Morse both ended up scoring on Blancos two-out single off reliever Seth Maness. NOTES: The Giants own the National Leagues best road winning percentage at .630 (17-10). ... The Cardinals announced after the game that 1B Matt Adams (left calf) was going on the disabled list and top prospect Oscar Taveras will be called up from the minors. ... Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) will start Saturday for San Francisco in place of Matt Cain, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring. Petit will be opposed by Michael Wacha (3-3). ... San Francisco is 27-5 when scoring first. ... Matt Carpenter had two hits for the Cardinals, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. ' ' '