it started in Prince Edward Island and now has spread across to New Brunswick whooping clock will spread quickly if it has enough vulnerable people to to infect whooping cough a respiratory tract infection making it difficult to breathe is also very contagious you know once a stone starts rolling downhill it tends to pick up speed and that's what you sort of see in a situation like this the two provinces dealing with the latest outbreak Pei where there have been 11 cases this month and New Brunswick contending with over 140 cases this year neighboring Nova Scotia expected to see a rise because of interprovincial Travelers and although Quebec hasn't declared an outbreak it's seen more than 6,000 cases of whooping cough this year while Ontario has seen more than 400 cases parts of the country seeing Regional outbreaks with some still recovering from a surge in cases last year this is a Canadian issue this is not just a New Brunswick issue now a word what this potential spread could do to already overburdened hospitals people can have terrible terrible costs it can cause damage it can cause um uh significant discomfort uh there's deaths that have been associated with it as well those most at risk are seniors and infants Health experts say the effectiveness of the vaccine for whooping cough starts wearing off after about a year calling for parents to get their kids inoculated before the school year starts kaml carali CTV News Toronto