Five new confirmed cases of whooping cough in the Flathead bring the total number to 21. Three of the new confirmed cases are students at Kalispell Middle School.
According to Flathead health officials, there have been six confirmed cases in Columbia Falls, including four students and two adults. Bigfork has four cases: three students and one adult. The new Kalispell cases are in addition to the previously confirmed six cases, which include one Glacier High School student.
Officials aren?t saying what school districts the other two cases are associated with because their families haven?t been notified. The pertussis outbreak prompted Kalispell Middle School to cancel a concert last week, but health officials say they don?t plan to cancel other school events in the Flathead at this time.
?We try not to cancel events unless we really don?t have enough information to act otherwise,? said Health Officer Joe Russell. ?The concert that we cancelled early on in the Kalispell Middle School outbreak, was literally on the first day and we really didn?t know what we were dealing with.?
