Pertussis in an infant adopted from Russia–May 2002

On May 2, 2002, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services notified CDC about an infant aged 10 months adopted from Russia who had culture-confirmed pertussis diagnosed. On April 8, the adoptive parents picked him up in the orphan ward at hospital A in Bryansk and noticed that the child had upper respiratory congestion and cough. The adoptive parents reported that the infant had not received any vaccinations and that another infant living in the same room in hospital A had a severe cough. The adopted infant subsequently was examined by a local physician, who diagnosed his condition as a “cold,” and the infant was taken to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where the parents were interviewed for an immigrant visa for the child.