Whooping Cough, West Nile Virus Cases in Greenfield

The  in Greenfield has climbed to 49 as of Sept. 13, nearly five times as many as the previous two years combined.

In 2011, there were four total cases and in 2010, there were six.

“The increase is substantial but we’re seeing increases across the country and across the state,” said Greenfield Health Director Darren Rausch, who provided an update to the Board of Health on Thursday. “We had a huge peak of cases in the late April, May timeframe as school was winding down and then we had a drop-off in the summer, which is not unusual. It was rock-bottom in August and now that school is back in session, we’ll likely see an increase."

The Wisconsin Department of Health reported 4,181 confirmed or probable pertussis cases in the state as of Sept. 3.

In addition, Rausch told Patch his department is aware of another suspected case of West Nile Virus within city limits less than a week after the department issued a press release .

Rausch did not share details of the most recent case but said the person was simply ill at this point and would not likely succumb to the disease.

As of Sept. 12 throughout the state, there have been 17 reported probable human cases of West Nile Virus this year. Of those, 10 are in Milwaukee County and four in Waukesha County.