South Whidbey Little League tourney cancelled due to whooping cough epidemic

The three South Whidbey Little League All Star teams have been told to pack it in due to an outbreak of whooping cough, and the teams will not compete in the All Star tournament.

The disease, also known as pertussis, forced District 1 Little League officials to make the call Wednesday.

"It's a big bummer," said Chris Kesler, coach of a 9- to 10-year-old team. "We have no confirmed cases but several kids went to the doctor and were administered antibiotics."

Kesler said Island County health officials made a recommendation that, for public safety, no South Whidbey teams play the rest of the tournament.

The 9/10 team's game Wednesday in Oak Harbor was cancelled — the other two teams were to play on Thursday and both games were also cancelled.

"The decision was made by the district to help contain the outbreak," Kesler said. "There's nothing we can do about it, no process. We have a real disappointed group of players."

The number of cases of whooping cough continued to rise this week.

"We now have 25 confirmed cases of pertussis on Whidbey Island, still mostly concentrated in the southern area of the island," said Island County Medical Officer Dr. Roger Case.

Contact South Whidbey Record Reporter Jeff VanDerford at jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com or (360) 221-5300.

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