Officials from the World Health Organisation in Afghanistan say that at least 61 children are known to have died in the last month in an outbreak of suspected whooping cough.

A WHO spokesman said the children, all under the age of 12, were from villages in the Darwaz area of Badakhshan province near the Tajik border in the north-west of the country.

She said that although whooping cough was the most likely cause of death, other illnesses including diptheria - which is also highly contagious - could not be ruled out.

A WHO medical team is in the region and treating at least 68 other children who are thought to be suffering from similar symptoms.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service