A pertussis outbreak in Kootenai County has apparently claimed one life and infected eight people since March 29, the Panhandle Health District reported Monday.
Although final autopsy tests are still being reviewed, medical officials said pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, most likely killed a 2-month-old Post Falls infant 11 days ago."We are considering it a pertussis death," said Jeanne Bock, director of family and community health at the Panhandle Health District. "They still need to look at the exact cultures and testing evidence."
Since then, four children who attend the same Post Falls in-home day care that the infant died at have caught the illness, and two adults whose children also attend the day care are infected.
On Saturday, the Panhandle Health District began investigating whether two children who attend different day cares are connected to the outbreak.