CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - It’s a disease that health officials said hasn’t been seen at this level in more than a decade.

“In West Virginia we have not seen this number of cases of whooping cough in at least 15 years,” said Dr. Steven Eshenaur, Health Officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department

On Friday, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health issued a statewide health alert due to the rise of whooping cough.

As of Wednesday, there have been 146 total confirmed cases of whooping cough in West Virginia this year.

The West Virginia Department of Health said the cause of the surge can be attributed to a number of things like potential mutations of the pertussis bacteria to the natural three to five year cyclical peaks.

Dr. Eshenaur said a symptom that is known to whooping

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