The Minnesota Department of Health says cases of measles are spiking across the state.

So far the outbreak is largely affecting unvaccinated children in the Somali community.

MDH says there have been 36 reported cases of the measles in Minnesota this year, the second-most in any year since the year 2000. In the most recent cases, about 1 in 3 required hospitalization.

“Measles is highly contagious,” said Dr. Abdul Abdi, a pediatrician at Children’s Minnesota.

The latest data from the MDH shows The state has seen 30 reported cases of measles since May, but the outbreak affecting mostly children started to ramp up at the end of July.

“As much as I’d like to say I’m surprised, unfortunately there has been a rise in misinformation about vaccines,” Abdi said.

Abdi is referring to the claim that the measles vaccine is linked to autism. Because of that, he says vaccination rates have dropped significantly in our Somali community over the last 10 to 15 years.

“Rates of autism haven’t declined. This clearly demonstrates that there is no link between the two,” Abdi said.

Measles symptoms include cough, high fever and runny nose followed by a rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body.

“Definitely way higher cases than we would typically see, and we’re very concerned for our patients,” Abdi said.

He adds the measles virus is highly contagious — all the more reason to get the MMR vaccine.

“Vaccines against measles are very effective and that’s really our only way of preventing the spread of this disease,” Abdi said.

Children can get vaccinated at their regular clinic. Visit the MDH website for details on local public health immunization clinics in the metro.