Notes from the field: Outbreak of pertussis in a school and religious community averse to health care and vaccinations--columbia County, Florida, 2013.

On August 30, 2013, the Florida Department of Health in Columbia County was notified of a Bordetella pertussis laboratory-positive unimmunized child attending a local charter school (316 students from pre-K through 8th grade) in a large religious community averse to health care and vaccinations. Kindergarten immunization records showed that only five (15%) of 34 students were fully immunized with pertussis-antigen-containing vaccines. In seventh grade, only one (5%) of 22 students was fully immunized with pertussis-antigen-containing vaccines. Of the children who were not fully immunized in these two grades, 84% had religious exemptions.