MADISON, Wis. — An infant’s death in southwest Wisconsin is being connected to the growing outbreak of measles in the state, which has now reached levels not seen in more than 35 years.
While information on the infant’s death is limited to due privacy laws, a coroner’s report listed the cause of death as measles, according to a news release from the state Department of Health Services. The death is the first of its kind in Wisconsin since 1990.
“My heart is broken for the family,” said DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson in a November 5 news release. “Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease.”
431 cases have been confirmed across 13 counties in the state as part of the ongoing outbreak, with most centered in Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette Counties. All but three of the cases have been among unvaccinated people.
Across all cases, nine people have required hospitalization for severe symptoms.
