A University of Georgia researcher has received a $1.8 million federal grant to develop a vaccine for a new strain of mumps.

UGA professor of infectious disease Biao He says the current vaccine, in use since 1967, could be showing signs of weakness after large outbreaks of the disease in 2006 and 2010.

He says developing a new vaccine could help devise a reliable method for creating vaccines for the 12 other strains of mumps circulating throughout the world.

Most of the people who became sick in the two most recent outbreaks had the recommended two-dose mumps vaccination early in their childhood.

The grant is from the National Institutes of Health.

Tags: University of Georgia, UGA, National Institutes of Health, mumps