WASHINGTON — Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo has been diagnosed with whooping cough, a rare and contagious disease that's officially known as pertussis.
The freshman Republican has been ill for several weeks with the disease, which has largely been quelled in the U.S. through vaccination. He was diagnosed on Monday.
Curbelo was vaccinated as a child, his office says, but did not received recommended booster shots as an adult. He was probably contagious in early- to mid-July but no longer is so.
The disease is typically marked by a severe cough that is often followed by a deep breath that sounds like "whoop." It has a reputation as a childhood disease but now more often strikes teenagers and adults whose immunity has faded.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.