Reading Time: 3 minutes

Wisconsin health officials reported the death of an infant related to the ongoing measles outbreak in southwestern Wisconsin.

It’s the first measles-associated death in the state in more than 35 years, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

DHS reported that the coroner listed measles as the immediate cause of death. State officials said no further information about the death is being released to protect the privacy of the child and the family.

DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson said in a statement that her “heart is broken for the family.”

“Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease,” Johnson said in the statement. “Measles can cause serious illness and death, and it is important for all Wisconsinites to evaluate their risk and take steps to protect themselves and their family.”

Doctors recommend children get their first dose of the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, between 12 and 15 months.

But Dr. Ryan Westergaard, DHS chief medical officer and state epidemiologist for communicable diseases, announced Thursday on a call with reporters that the state is now recommending infants who are 6 months to 11 months old receive an early dose of the shot if they are at an increased risk of exposure due to the outbreak.

“In an outbreak, when we know that an infant may be exposed to measles, there is a benefit to providing that protection earlier,” Westergaard said. “For families with babies younger than 6 months or others who cannot be vaccinated, the most important protection is making sure that the people around them are immune. That’s one of the reasons that maintaining high vaccination coverage is so important.”

Kids younger than 5 years old are among those most at risk of serious complications from measles, along with people who are pregnant and those with weakened immune systems. The highly contagious virus can cause pneumonia and swelling of the brain.

Westergaard said the red, bumpy rash associated with measles doesn’t usually occur until several days after someone becomes sick. He told reporters than an infection typically starts with fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes, and he urged people to avoid contact with others as soon as these symptoms occur.

“We need people to recognize measles infections when they do occur and do everything we can to avoid exposing others,” said Westergaard, adding that those with symptoms should contact their local health department or medical provider for further guidance.

There have been 431 measles cases across 13 Wisconsin counties as of Tuesday. It’s the highest number of cases in the state in more than 35 years, according to DHS.

And it’s “almost certainly an underestimate” of infections, according to Westergaard. He told reporters that not everyone who becomes infected gets tested or comes to the attention of public health.

Westergaard pointed out that widespread vaccination changed measles from a common childhood infection to a relatively rare disease until recent years.

“That was an extraordinary public health achievement, but it wasn’t permanent and it wasn’t inevitable that we would have that success,” he said. “It depended on doing the hard work of maintaining high levels of immunity in our communities. The death we’re reporting today is a tragic reminder of what can happen when measles begins circulating again.”

The vast majority of cases in Wisconsin this year have been linked to spread of the virus among residents of Grant, Iowa, Lafayette and Vernon counties.

The remaining measles cases have been linked to people being infected with measles during travel out of state.

So far, nine Wisconsinites have required hospitalization for severe symptoms from measles. Over 99% of cases have been in people who are unvaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been four other measles-related deaths reported in the U.S. this year. 

The MMR vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles when the person has completed the medically recommended two-dose course.

State health officials are urging residents to check their and their families’ vaccination status through the state’s online registry or with their medical provider.

DHS reported some progress on improving the state’s vaccination rates. Since Aug. 1, the state has delivered 2,000 doses of the MMR vaccine to local health departments in measles-affected communities. Across the state, over 42,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered since Aug. 1.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Infant’s death linked to measles outbreak in southwest Wisconsin is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

An advocacy group for older adults is demanding state health officials continue reporting who owns nursing homes, citing concerns about the takeover of county-operated facilities by private companies with a track record of lower quality care.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services maintains a directory of all licensed nursing homes in the state, including contact information and the number of beds available. 

Up until this year, the directory also included the name of the facility’s owner and the type of ownership, including for-profit corporation, nonprofit or government-owned.

But the latest version of the directory no longer has ownership information listed.

Advocacy group Small Town and Rural Seniors, or STARS, sent a letter to DHS in August demanding the agency restore the information on the directory.

The group is worried that the lack of transparency benefits private corporations looking to take over county nursing homes and hurts residents’ ability to make informed decisions about where they or their family member should receive care.

“Anybody who is looking at a nursing home for their loved one, that would be good information to have: Who owns this? What kind of company are they?” said Judy Brey, a retired teacher and STARS organizer in Reedsburg.

Brey has been one of the residents fighting against the sale of Sauk County’s nursing home. The citizen group sued the county in 2024, but has been largely unsuccessful in its legal challenge of the sale.

Before the county board voted to sell the nursing home in 2024, Brey said officials would not divulge the name of the private buyer.

“We figured it out because we went into the DHS records and found out that this Aria company, you know, already had their name on our nursing home,” Brey said.

She said the directory also allowed concerned residents to identify the other Wisconsin nursing homes owned by Aria and look up their quality of care ratings.

Wisconsin has more county-owned nursing homes than most other states, and the facilities tend to offer better care. But in recent years, a number of counties have considered privatizing or sold the facilities due to financial pressures or staffing shortages.

DHS did not provide comment on the change to public data despite repeated requests from WPR.

In an email obtained by WPR, Jessica Radtke, director of the Bureau of Nursing Home Care at DHS, told a STARS organizer that the agency had recently transitioned to a new data system that does not include ownership information, which is what led to its removal from the directory.

Radtke pointed out in the email that ownership information is publicly available through the online Cost Compare tool from Medicare.

But Brey said the response passes the buck.

“This is Wisconsin data that should be in (the state) database for people to look at,” she said. “Frankly, with what’s going on at the federal level, we don’t trust that they’re going to have that information for very long.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Wisconsin no longer reports who owns the state’s nursing homes is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

A plane carrying Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany was forced to make an emergency water landing in Wausau Saturday night.

Tiffany, who represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, said the small aircraft lost power during its final approach for landing at the Wausau Downtown Airport.

During a press conference at the Wausau Fire Department Sunday, Tiffany said he believes the pilot, Leonard Boltz, attempted to restart the plane, but was unsuccessful.

“At that point, he just said, ‘Hang on, Tom, and buckle up because we’re going to go down,’” Tiffany told reporters. “It was just real shortly after that, I would guess 10 seconds, we hit the water.”

Boltz landed the plane in the middle of Lake Wausau on the Wisconsin River, according to information shared by the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office.

Tiffany said he lost his phone in the crash, but Boltz was able to call 911. He estimates they stood on top of the sinking plane for roughly 10 minutes, before beginning to swim toward shore. He said they discovered a sandbar after 150 feet and were able to wait there for emergency responders.

The sheriff’s office reported dispatchers received the call at 8:49 p.m. Saturday. Firefighters from the Wausau Fire Department rescued the two men using an airboat around 9:05 p.m.

Tiffany credited Boltz for pulling up the landing gear before hitting the water, which he said likely kept the plane from cartwheeling and may have saved their lives. He estimates the plane was going around 70 miles per hour at the time of the crash. 

“It was quite a night, quite a day, and (I’m) just grateful for the Lord for sparing us to see another day,” said Tiffany, who became emotional when speaking to reporters Sunday.

Tiffany and the pilot were the only people aboard the aircraft. Both were transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital with minor injuries.

Tiffany said he received 12 stitches to close a laceration in his eyebrow after his head hit the dashboard. The pilot also sustained minor injuries. Both men were released from the hospital Saturday night.

The congressman repeatedly thanked the Wausau Fire Department and other first responders for their quick rescue.

He said the incident would not keep him from continuing his campaign for governor, adding that he planned to be back on the campaign trail Monday.

“I signed up for this job. We’re going to finish the job,” Tiffany told reporters.

An investigation into the loss of power on the Beechcraft K35 airplane will be handled by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

The aircraft remained in Lake Wausau, according to a statement from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office. Officials asked boaters to avoid the area and use caution until crews can remove the plane.

David Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor, wrote on X that he is grateful that no one was hurt in what he called a “horrifying incident.”

Airport manager praises pilot for ‘awesome flying’

John Chmiel, Wausau Downtown Airport manager, was among those to survey the waterlogged plane on Sunday morning.

Chmiel noted aircraft incidents like this are incredibly uncommon.

“You think about it, in your community there’s probably multiple car accidents a day,” he said. “In the United States of America, there are less than a half dozen (aircraft incidents) a day in the entire USA, so that kind of puts things in perspective.”

Chmiel said the pilot – in his opinion – had done everything right in identifying the area for the plane to land and guiding it into the water, especially after the sun had gone down.

“Which was a very difficult maneuver to execute safely,” Chmiel said. “And he was able to actually retract the landing gear, so he would have a better result of landing on the water.”

He’s also a pilot and owns Wausau Flying Service.

“Regardless of what happened leading up to the accident, once he knew he was committed to a water landing, he did every single thing right. It was awesome flying,” Chmiel said.

When asked by WPR if this is a normal procedure for an emergency, to look for a water landing, Chmiel said he’s always taught pilots to look for alternative landing areas.

“The beautiful thing about water is there typically isn’t obstructions or people or vessels in there that you have to worry about hitting,” he said. 

That said, actually pulling it off safely is its own art, he added.

“We spend our whole careers trying to prevent that from happening, and sometimes things slip through the Swiss cheese, as we call it,” he said.

When an aircraft accident happens at an airport, the process is different, Chmiel said. In this case, where the plane hit water off airport property – it wasn’t necessary for him to be involved, but he said he was Saturday night.

“It’s not a common occurrence, but we’re always prepared for it, if it does,” he said.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Tom Tiffany swims to safety after plane makes emergency lake landing is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.