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Whooping cough outbreak reported in Wisconsin

Infection Control Monitor, May 28, 2004

Health officials in Wisconsin report 27 recent whooping cough cases in Milwaukee, including seven since May 21, the Associated Press reports.

People with suspected symptoms have been asked to seek treatment and stay home until they are no longer contagious. Officials warn that people may have very mild symptoms and not realize they have the illness, which is also known as pertussis.

The Milwaukee health department learned of two confirmed and one probable case of pertussis last week among college roommates at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. About 2,000 letters were mailed to students in an effort to identify others who may have been exposed.

Pertussis is caused by a toxin-releasing bacterium and is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Symptoms initially resemble the common cold but progress to bouts of uncontrollable coughing.

Milwaukee reported 15 pertussis cases during all of last year.

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