Measles cases reach 42 in rural Minnesota amid outbreaks - Star Tribune
Minnesota has reported 42 measles cases this year, with 18 new cases appearing in Todd County over the past week. Health officials are urging unvaccinated residents to get immunized, noting that low vaccination rates in specific communities are driving the outbreaks.
Why it matters
The surge in cases underscores the public health risks associated with declining vaccination rates in specific geographic and cultural pockets.
Minnesota has confirmed another 18 cases of measles in the past week — one of its highest single-week totals in decades — amid two ongoing outbreaks in the state’s least-vaccinated counties.
“The case count will very likely grow in the days and weeks ahead,” the Minnesota Department of Health warned in a written statement, which also urged unvaccinated residents to seek out shots.
Thursday’s updated tally raises Minnesota’s total for the year to 42, the third-highest annual total since at least 2017. The state reported 57 cases in 2024 and 75 in the 2017 outbreak that centered in child-care facilities in Minneapolis.
All 18 new cases were reported in Todd County in north-central Minnesota, one of two clusters of measles activity along with Fillmore County in the southeast part of the state. The state reported six cases in Fillmore last week but none there this week.
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