Santa Barbara County Infant Dies From Whooping Cough

(AP) -- A newborn baby has died from whooping cough in California.  It's the fourth death in a year as the state deals with an epidemic.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department says the baby was 25 days old, caught the bacterial infection last year and died this month.

The California Department of Public Health says three other infants died last year. State health officials have recorded nearly 11,000 cases that were contracted last year. It's the worst epidemic to hit the state in seven decades.