Pennsylvania
This Week in Pennsylvania: Tariffs, games of skill, special election reaction
Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year.
There have been 8,485 cases reported in 2025, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s twice as many cases as this time last year, based on the CDC’s final tally.
Rates of whooping cough, or pertussis, soared last year, which experts said wasn’t unexpected. The number of cases fell during COVID-19 because of masking and social distancing. Plus, experts said, the illness peaks every two to five years.
But experts say the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses, like measles and whooping cough, could be indicative of changing attitudes toward vaccines. U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates fell last year, and the number of children with vaccine exemptions hit an all-time high.
“There’s unfortunately been increasing anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States,” said Dr. Ericka Hayes at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Our recovery is not nearly as quick as we expected it to be and we needed it to be. And again, when you fall below 95% for vaccinations, you lose that herd immunity protection.”
Whooping cough tends to peak around this time of year and in the fall. It’s usually spread through respiratory droplets in the air, when people with pertussis cough, sneeze or breathe close to others. The symptoms are similar to a cold but the cough becomes increasingly severe with a distinctive sound — a “whoop” as the person tries to take in air. It is treated with antibiotics.
In the past six months, two babies in Louisiana and a 5-year-old in Washington state have died from whooping cough.
The pertussis vaccine, which also protects against diphtheria and tetanus, is given at two months, four months and six months. The CDC recommends adults get follow-up doses every 10 years.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Air National Guard member who supported Hamas lied to feds and built pipe bombs, FBI says
A Pennsylvania Air National Guard member already charged with vandalizing Jewish buildings in Pittsburgh is facing new charges for allegedly building pipe bombs and lying about his allegiance to the United States in an attempt to gain top secret security clearance.
Twenty-three-year-old Mohamad Hamad of Coraopolis was named in a nine-count superseding indictment along with 24-year-old Tayla Lubit and 22-year-old Micaiah Collins, both of Pittsburgh.
Hamad, who, according to FBI paperwork, called himself a “Hamas operative,” was previously indicted along with Lubit for defacing Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s synagogue and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s office building in July.
Hamad accused of lying to feds, building pipe bombs
Investigators said Hamad enlisted with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in 2023 and was assigned to a squadron that’s part of the 171st Air Refueling Wing near the Pittsburgh International Airport. While trying to gain top security clearance, the FBI said Hamad lied to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency about his loyalty to the U.S. during three in-person interviews.
During the same time, prosecutors allege that Hamad and Collins conspired to make a “destructive device” and discussed its potential uses. After detonating the device, investigators said Hamad built additional explosives, including two pipe bombs, detonating those as well.
Prosecutors vow to keep Jewish community safe
“As alleged in the Superseding Indictment, Mohamad Hamad lied about his loyalty to the United States, among other false statements, in an attempt to obtain a Top-Secret security clearance,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti in a press release. “During that time, he openly expressed support for Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Hamas. In addition to his previously charged role in defacing Jewish religious property, he also conspired with others named in this Superseding Indictment to manufacture and detonate destructive devices.”
Rivetti says his office “remains resolute in its commitment” to working with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to protect the Jewish community and public at large.
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