The deputy director of public health, Dr Chrissie Pickin, said that the departmnet was notified of 15 cases of the highly infectious disease last month - the highest monthly figure in the region for the past few years.

Dr Pickin said that new cases were continuing to be diagnosed.

“What we’re seeing are pockets of the disease in the Launceston and Deloraine areas, mostly among primary school and early high school-aged children,” Dr Pickin said.

“This is unexpected, as numbers have fallen in the past two years and the rate of whooping cough in Tasmania was the lowest per capita in Australia.

There were more than 600 cases of whooping cough in Tasmania in 2009 and 281 cases in 2010.

Dr Pickin asid that so far this year, there has been 152 cases to early November, with more than 50 cases in the past 10 weeks.

"Whooping cough is a serious disease for infants and an important cause of cough illness among older children and adults," she said.

“Whooping cough usually begins just like a cold, with a runny nose and sometimes a mild fever.

“Symptoms can rapidly progress to include severe coughing bouts, sometimes with the characteristic ‘whooping’ sound.”

Dr Pickin advised Tasmanians to see a doctor if they develop these symptoms, particularly if they’ve been in contact with someone with proven or suspected whooping cough.