MDH confirms 3 measles cases in the metro

The Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday announced it had confirmed three cases of measles in the Twin Cities metro.

The cases occurred in Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Health officials said the three children were unvaccinated and that the cases are unrelated to each other, causing concern for measles to spread in the communities. Two of the children needed to be hospitalized.

One case was confirmed on Monday and the other two cases were confirmed on Wednesday.

This week’s cases bring Minnesota to 15 total cases in 2024 — an increase compared to other years, health officials said. All of the cases occurred in unvaccinated children and over 50% of the cases needed to be hospitalized.

Symptoms of measles include high fever, cough, runny nose, water eyes and a rash that typically spreads from the head to the rest of the body. It generally takes eight to 12 days for symptoms to appear after exposure.

Health officials add that the best way to prevent measles is through immunization. Children are recommended to get two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.

You can check your immunization status here.

More information on measles can be found here.