Pertussis outbreak; over 200 treated

Grant County Health District staff are investigating three laboratory confirmed cases and 210 people that came into contact with ill individuals with whooping cough (pertussis) in Mattawa and Quincy. No one has been hospitalized. “We are responding to a cluster of whooping cough cases among migrant farm workers near Mattawa and Quincy. Because of a large number of exposed and ill individuals in a very well-defined area, we are considering this a local outbreak,” states Dr. Alexander Brzezny, Grant County Health Officer. He adds, “Preventing severe disease and death in infants is our highest pr...