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Whooping cough infections are on the rise in Iowa

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River to River, hosted by Ben Kieffer

Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection and cases are up nationally.

Sam Jarvis, community health manager at Johnson County Public Health delivers a public health update, including case numbers for mpox and whooping cough. Also, when you should get COVID boosters and flu shots.

Then, we say goodbye to the Ames Haunted Forest with co-owner Lee Ballard, and say hello to this weekend’s CyHawk game with Iowa Hawkeye football reporter, John Steppe of The Gazette. Later in the hour, Hungarian poet, Peter Zavada joins the program and IPR Studio One Host, Mark Simmet grooves us into the weekend.

Guests:

  • Sam Jarvis, community health manager, Johnson County Public Health
  • John Steppe, reporter, The Gazette
  • Lee Ballard, co-owner, Ames Haunted Forest
  • Peter Zavada, Hungarian poet with the International Writing Program
  • Mark Simmet, Studio One host, IPR
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River
Dani Gehr is a talk show producer for Iowa Public Radio. She holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University. Since 2022, Gehr has worked with IPR's talk team to bring news and features to IPR's listening audience.
Madeleine Willis is IPR's Production Assistant supporting the talk shows and The Sunny Side Project. Willis has experience in audio production, reporting, writing and editing stories and conversations. She's reported and produced conversations on womanhood, sports, and good news from across Iowa. Willis will receive her bachelors degree from the University of Iowa in May 2025.