Kerry County Board has confirmed that medical advice and Health Service Executive (HSE) protocols are being followed and all appropriate measures are being taken.

O'Connor's side top Allianz Hurling League Division 2A with four wins from four games and they are due to play second-place Antrim at Austin Stack Park, Tralee on Sunday afternoon (12.30pm). The top two teams in the group will face one another in a promotion final.

But the manager is fearful that other players may be ruled out of selection between now and the weekend leaving him unsure as to who is available for the clash.

O'Connor explained: “We have three cases on mumps over the past couple of days and its thrown our plans into disarray.

"It’s the first time we had anything like this in the group so we are just following medical advice and all the procedures we are meant to follow as set down by the HSE.

"It will naturally rule out the lads who have it for Sunday's game and we will have to wait and see who might show signs of it as some of the players at training on Tuesday night travelled with one or two of the lads who have contracted the mumps.

With the outbreak of mumps and injuries, we are probably scraping the barrel in terms of selection.

"It is far from ideal but we are used to taking knocks”

The HSE advises that "individuals with mumps should not attend work, school, college, university or child-care during their infectious period (ie for 5 days after onset of parotid swelling) in view of the possibility of transmitting virus to non-immune individuals."

Outbreaks of mumps have become widespread around the country, the Health Service Executive reported last month.