The death toll from children's whooping cough has mounted to 60 in East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), according to a report of PNG Post Courier, a local daily newspaper, on Tuesday.

The figure could rise sharply as more information flows in to Wewak and national offices, Health Minister Peter Barter was quoted as saying so during a helicopter patrol of the affected areas at the weekend.

Peter said it was a concern that many of those affected had been immunized but due to the failure of the refrigeration of health supplies and the long foot treks needed to get vaccines to remote areas, the vaccine might have lost its potency against whooping cough.

He said the whooping cough outbreak had taken many lives and should be taken seriously.

Source: Xinhua