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Missouri News Horizon
Jefferson City, Mo. - Doctors in Jefferson City are fighting an outbreak of whooping cough. So far four children at an early childhood learning center have all come down with the illness.

Pertussis, as the illness if formally known, spreads quickly among younger children and can be fatal.

The Jefferson City School District requires students to be vaccinated for pertussis before coming to school. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta noted that Missouri was showing a higher rate of pertussis cases than most other states.