Missoula pertussis cases grow to 8; health director warns of ‘outbreak’
(KPAX) The number of confirmed pertussis cases in Missoula County has grown.
Missoula health officials tell MTN News that two more cases of whooping cough have been confirmed, bringing the total cases to eight.
Missoula City-County Health Department Director Ellen Leahy says that the two new cases were out of 20 tests.
The very contagious, easily spread infection had previously been confirmed among several students in the Missoula area.
Local health officials caution that this could be the beginning of a widespread problem.
“We have an outbreak developing. We are at about 300 close contacts, we also have tests pending usually every day,” Leahy told MTN News earlier this week.
Sentinel High School parents received an email from the school on Tuesday confirming three cases among their students.
The health department is working directly with the affected families and the schools to identify close contacts. Once a close contact is identified, the child and the child’s parents will be notified.
Leahy says they are working diligently to prevent as many new cases as possible.