AUBURN -- A higher than usual volume of whooping cough cases has Cayuga County Health officials on alert.

The health department has confirmed 20 cases of pertussis since May. The two latest cases were confirmed July 13 with another pair pending confirmation as of Friday.

The outbreak is a higher than normal count compared to the handful the county Health Department sees each year. Only 15 cases have been confirmed in the county between 2000 and 2006 combined.

In June, several Auburn High School students came down with confirmed cases of whooping cough. No cases were reported in the first four months of the year.

"It has been a wide range in age group, but predominant in adolescents," county Director of Community Health Services Joan Knight said Friday. "For the most part, there really wasn't links we could find between infected individuals.

"What we're trying to do is get doctors to more aggressively do the diagnostic," she said.

Once infected through direct contact with discharges from the nose or throat, the incubation period can last for weeks. Symptoms resemble a common cold or common allergies at first, but develop into a severe and high-pitched cough.

"We're saying if that cough lasts for more than a week, see a physician," Knight said.

Anyone who is showing symptoms of whooping cough should contact their physician or the county health department at 253-1560. Information is available on the county Web site at co.cayuga.ny.us/hhs/doh/index.htm.