Manitoba Health has declared an outbreak of Whooping Cough in its Southern Health region.

As of Friday, 154 cases have been reported to Manitoba Health since January, with 152 cases in the southern health region.

This includes 30 cases in infants one year or younger, 80 cases in children aged one to nine, 24 cases in children aged 10 to 19, and 20 cases in adults.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable illness, caused by bacteria, and usually spread through respiratory droplets in the air when coughing or sneezing.