The state Department of Health Services launched a media campaign Friday to encourage parents across the state to get their children vaccinated as a nationwide measles outbreak threatened to enter the state.

The department’s campaign includes advertisements on radio, social media platforms and elsewhere online aimed at parents and pregnant women who are making decisions about vaccinating their children.

“Immunizations are safe and effective and not only protect the child but the people around that child, too,” Jeanne Ayers, state public health officer, said in a statement.

“While measles is on everyone’s mind with outbreaks across the country, it’s important for parents to know immunizations protect children from 14 serious illnesses, some that could be deadly,” Ayers said.

The campaign comes as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday that more than 11,000 students in Milwaukee Public Schools aren't fully vaccinated, a number too high to create herd immunity within the district and prevent vulnerable people from contracting the disease.

If enough people in a community are vaccinated, a single case of disease can't spread into an outbreak. To protect against measles spreading, that immunization rate needs to be between 93% and 95% in a community.

Cases of measles have been reported in Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, concerning doctors the highly contagious disease could crop up in Wisconsin soon.

The state health department reports that in 2018, about 72% of Wisconsin children from 0 to 2 years old had received the recommended slate of vaccines.

Funding for the ad campaign comes from a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the department said.

Molly Beck of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

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Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.