Over the past several months, whooping cough, or pertussis, has been on the rise in Dane County, according to Public Health Department officials.

Since March 1, more than 90 cases have been reported in Dane County and more cases are expected, officials said.

Most of the reported cases are school aged children -- and within the age group, the hardest hit is 10 to 14 year old people, officials said. More than 160 total cases have been reported since the beginning of the year. 

While cases of pertussis have been found in quite a few areas of the county, clusters of cases have been reported in Sun Prairie, Monona and Cottage Grove. 

Other counties in Wisconsin have also seen an increase in pertussis. 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department is participating in the fourth National Take Back Initiative with the DEA on April 27.

The initiative aims to make people's homes and communities a safer place by giving them the opportunity to bring in their unwanted or expired medications to the Police Department for safe disposal.

This event normally occurs on Saturday, however to accommodate the campus community, the UWPD event will be a day early, on Friday, April 27.

People can drop of medications without even getting out of their vehicles. They can just drive in, dump their medications into a bucket that one of the department's uniformed officers will be holding and drive off.

No information will be taken, and the whole process should take less than a minute. No needles or aerosols, no containers (All liquids must be in their original containers.) For convenience, people should just bring their medications in a plastic bag.