Nov. 5 (UPI) — A Wisconsin infant has died of measles in the state’s first death due to the disease in more than three decades, state health officials said Thursday.

The state is in the throes of its largest measles outbreak in 35 years. The last time someone died of measles in Wisconsin was in 1990.

“My heart is broken for the family,” state Health Secretary Kirsten Johnson told CNN. “Any death of a child is a tragedy and even more so when it is related to a vaccine-preventable disease.

“Measles can cause serious illness and death, and it is important for all Wisconsinites to evaluate their risk and take steps to protect themselves and their family.”

The case is the third measles-related death reported in the United States this week — some three decades since the last time anyone in the country died due to the disease.

Eight measles-related deaths have been reported this year, the highest death toll nationwide since 1991. None of the eight people were vaccinated.

There have been outbreaks in Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania. One person has died in New York and six in Pennsylvania.

Wisconsin has recorded 431 cases of measles so far this year. Nine people have been hospitalized.

“We can actually eliminate transmission of measles in the community by getting enough people vaccinated,” Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Wisconsin’s state epidemiologist for communicable diseases, told NBC News.

“We have the opportunity to take a disease that could affect everybody and essentially make it go away.”