Whoops! Gaetz says not so fast on illness

By MARGIE MENZEL
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, August 6, 2015..........State Sen. Don Gaetz apparently jumped the gun Wednesday when he told an audience that his son, Rep. Matt Gaetz, was missing the event due to a case of whooping cough.

"I think my father got a little ahead of himself," Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said Thursday.

He added that while he'd been tested for whooping cough "out of an abundance of caution," he was still awaiting the results, resting at home and taking antibiotics.

"I would feel awful if I became Okaloosa County's Typhoid Mary," he said.

The Gaetzes had been scheduled for a father-son appearance Wednesday before a group of Florida State University political science students at the Old Capitol. But Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, arrived alone. He told the audience that his son had "spent time with Congressman (Carlos) Curbelo in Washington, and apparently picked up the whooping cough from him."

Curbelo, a Miami-Dade Republican, confirmed earlier this week that he'd tested positive for whooping cough, a highly contagious disease also known as pertussis or "the 100-day cough."

After his father's remarks went statewide, Matt Gaetz's hometown paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the test results were due sometime Thursday.

Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said Thursday that Don Gaetz, a former Senate president, hadn't anticipated so much interest in his remarks.

"Like any parent with a sick child, President Gaetz is worried about his son's health and encouraged him to stay home yesterday, rather than travel to Tallahassee for their speaking engagement," Betta wrote in an email. "President Gaetz certainly didn't think mentioning the whooping cough possibility would generate as much interest as it has, but he's hopeful that the whole situation will help raise public awareness about the seriousness of this illness, particularly for young children."

Matt Gaetz said he'd be in Tallahassee for the special session on congressional redistricting that starts Monday. By that time, he said, even if he does have whooping cough, he'll no longer be contagious following a course of antibiotics.