At least 10 people have died and 130 others are sick in Afghanistan's western Herat province after eating wheat contaminated with a poisonous plant, officials said.

A toxic weed, locally called 'charmak' grows alongside wheat in the area and contains chemicals that can affect the liver, causing the disease, the World Health Organization said.

Local authorities have already imposed a temporary ban on the movement of wheat flour and other cereals from Heart's Gulran District, where the outbreak occurred, to other parts of the province.

Ten patients were taken to the capital, Kabul on Sunday for hospitalization and extended treatment, according to Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan.

A similar outbreak of the disease in the South Asian country in 1974 killed dozens of people. There have also been cases in India and some central Asian nations in recent years.