Besides ensuring you have the notebooks, crayons, and pencils you need for the upcoming school year, health officials want to make you add “scheduling your child’s vaccination” to your child's list, too.

The request comes after the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced the discovery of nine measles cases in Oconto County, all connected to a common source during out-of-state travel. According to DHS, measles is a highly contagious disease that can infect up to 90% of the people around them if they are not vaccinated. The vaccine for measles is included in the MMR series, which also protects against mumps and rubella. State Public Health Officer Paula Tran says 95 percent of people in a community need to be vaccinated against measles to prevent an outbreak. According to DHS data, Luxemburg-Casco and Kewaunee are at or above that threshold. All but the Washington Island School District (87 percent) are at or above 90 percent protected against the measles via the MMR vaccine.

Door County Public Health Nurse Holly Neri emphasized the importance of protecting your kids against diseases like measles before they start the school year.

You can contact your public health department to see when the next vaccine clinic is open. According to DHS, 86.4 percent of students met the minimum immunization requirements, a decrease from the previous school year. However, the agency admits some unfamiliarity with a new meningitis vaccine requirement. DHS data shows that Algoma (90 percent), Kewaunee (90 percent), Luxemburg-Casco (>95 percent), and Southern Door (86 percent) are at or above the state average.