The Ames Community School District is fighting against illness after 17 new cases of pertussis — commonly known as whooping cough — were confirmed as of Friday.

Tim Taylor, deputy superintendent for the Ames Community Schools, said the school district has been doing everything it can to keep the illness from spreading further.

“We are in daily contact with the Iowa Department of Health,” Taylor said. “We’ve sent notices out to all the families in the school district with fact sheets.”

Taylor said students in close contact with the infected students have been notified and sent home, as well as advised to see their family doctor to receive a five-day antibiotic. Students experiencing symptoms have also been sent home.

“This is something we are taking very seriously,” Taylor said.

Symptoms of pertussis, like coughing, sneezing and a runny nose, are often confused with other respiratory illnesses like bronchitis, according to an e-mail sent to ISU faculty by Dr. Marc Shulman, chief of staff at the Thielen Student Health Center. Shulman said whooping cough is spread by respiratory droplets — the emission into the air after a person coughs or sneezes.

Shulman said no cases have been reported yet on campus, but students who are in close contact with Ames Community Schools have been contacted.

“We do not have it confirmed on campus, but we are watching at this time,” Shulman said.

Those who have been contacted have also started the five-day course of antibiotics. Shulman said this may still not prevent the illness from occurring but will lessen the symptoms.

“It is still possible to get some degree of the illness,” he said. “Hopefully, we can prevent it, even if not 100 percent.”

Taylor and Shulman urge Ames residents to carry on with day-to-day activities. Students will soon receive an e-mail with more information about pertussis and how to keep from getting it.

“This is not a mandatory quarantine,” Shulman said, “but we are asking students to be careful.”

Shulman advises washing hands regularly and not sharing eating utensils or water bottles.

Taylor said one incident was reported and contained last year, and he remains optimistic that this year could be as easy.

“I was hoping it would be like last year,” he said. “This has been a pretty cooperative effort thus far.”