A case of whooping cough resulted in the cancellation of a college football game between South Dakota and Portland State on Saturday, officials said.
Whooping cough, caused by the pertussis bacteria, impacts the respiratory system and can cause coughing fits that can last weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Considered highly contagious, health officials say that whooping cough is particularly dangerous for younger children, especially infants.
“A case of pertussis (whooping cough) got into the Viking team two days ago," Portland State said in a statement in canceling the game. “Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that affects the lungs. As a result, many team members have been exposed to the disease.”
It was unclear if a Portland State player or other staff member had pertussis. The team said that no players on the Portland State team are “seriously ill at this time.”
South Dakota and Portland State were set to meet for the first time on Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium, while Portland State is set to visit Boise State next weekend. In a statement, Boise State said the team is monitoring the situation.
“Our utmost priority and concern are for the health and safety of everyone involved,” the team said in the statement.
According to the CDC, pertussis can start off like the common cold but its cough can last for several months. Historical accounts have suggested that traditional Chinese medicine practitioners had referred to the disease as the “100-day cough,” according to an English translation.
“Those who get these coughing fits say it’s the worst cough of their lives,” the CDC says on its website, noting that the coughing can cause people to vomit.
Other than coughing, it can cause a low-grade fever, difficulty sleeping, breathing problems, and rib fractures. The illness was considered common in the 19th and early 20th century, although officials say that it has been controlled by childhood vaccination.
The CDC says that cases of pertussis have increased so far in 2024.
“Preliminary data show that more than four times as many cases have been reported as of week 33, reported on August 17, 2024, compared to the same time in 2023,” the CDC said in August. “The number of reported cases this year is higher than what was seen at the same time in 2019, prior to the pandemic.”
In the August statement, the CDC did not provide data on how many whooping cough cases have been reported so far in the United States this year.
But it noted that in the 1980s, reports of pertussis started “increasing gradually” and led to a peak of 48,277 reported cases. Cases have been elevated since 2012 until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, it added.
The World Health Organization’s Americas division on July 24 issued an alert for a rise in pertussis cases globally and in some countries in North and South America. Notably, in Europe, there has been an increase in cases during the second half of last year and during the first six months of this year, WHO said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
