BOWLING GREEN, MO. -- The Pike County Missouri Health Department has confirmed a case of whooping cough in Bowling Green.  

The Missouri Department of Health calls it a highly-contagious respiratory disease that most commonly affects infants.

Whooping cough is also called pertussis. Pertussis usually starts with cold or flu-like symptoms that are followed by increasingly severe bouts of coughing.

A vaccine is available. The childhood version is called DTaP, and is recommended for infants and children ages four to six. The adult booster vaccine is called Tdap.

More information is available by calling the Pike County Health Department at 573-324-2111 or visiting www.pikecountyhealth.org.