Whooping cough claims 100 lives in Afghanistan

An outbreak of whooping cough in north-eastern Afghanistan has reportedly claimed 100 lives in the past 10 days.

A correspondent for the Bakhtar Information Agency has also told Radio Afghanistan the number of the deaths in a remote district of Badakhshan province is mounting.

He says children and the elderly are the main victims, but the disease is spreading and the death toll is increasing by the day.

Badakhshan is on the border with China and Tajikistan, and is one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Afghanistan.

The radio says no foreign aid agencies are working in the area.

Whooping cough is an infectious disease which particularly affects children.

It is characterised by coughing spasms followed by harsh gasps for breath.

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