Pertussis – a disease commonly referred to as whooping cough – is spreading quickly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns. The U.S. has seen five times more cases in 2024 than we did at this time last year.

Parents in a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania school district were alerted this week to a case of whooping cough, a bacterial infection that has spread at its fastest pace on record in nearly a decade, with the Keystone State being a hotspot. The county was notified about the case at Upper Merion High School on Monday, a spokesperson said.

Southwestern Pennsylvania is experiencing a whooping cough outbreak and the commonwealth leads the nation in newly reported cases.