diff --git a/elastalert/elastalert.py b/elastalert/elastalert.py
index b078c86db..24c9f884f 100755
--- a/elastalert/elastalert.py
+++ b/elastalert/elastalert.py
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ def __init__(self, args):
         self.starttime = self.args.start
         self.disabled_rules = []
         self.replace_dots_in_field_names = self.conf.get('replace_dots_in_field_names', False)
+        self.thread_data.alerts_sent = 0
         self.thread_data.num_hits = 0
         self.thread_data.num_dupes = 0
         self.scheduler = BackgroundScheduler()