Infectious disease expert breaks down surge in Minnesota measles cases

The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed 10 new cases of measles since Monday, bringing the total to 18 cases in the state.

Meanwhile, national health officials reported there is a total of more than 1,500 cases across the country. That’s the highest number since the disease was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.

Jessica Hancock-Allen, the director of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division at the Minnesota Department of Health, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to explain the situation.

The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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What do you know about the 18 individuals infected in Minnesota?

We’ve had 18 cases of measles in the state of Minnesota since the beginning of 2025. We’ve had 13 cases in the last couple of weeks.

We have two different families in Dakota County that are linked and there are 10 cases of measles within those two families. They were exposed by a visitor from out-of-state. Then we have three unrelated children that were all exposed on the same international flight.

I would like to highlight that all 13 of these individuals were unvaccinated. Vaccination is really the most important tool that we have to protect Minnesotans, and especially our young and vulnerable individuals, against measles. Now is the time to get vaccinated or to get caught up on your MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) shot to protect against measles.

Some of these cases are children. What type of coordination does it take with schools when an outbreak like this occurs?

It’s really a partnership between multiple players with an outbreak of this size. When we have cases like this, we discuss with parents who was in contact with those infectious kiddos. Then we contact those parents and get those kids who haven’t already had measles in for medications that can help them not get the illness. Or, unfortunately, we have to have those exposed and unvaccinated individuals stay home for upwards of 21 days. That’s a big burden on those kids who can’t go to school and can’t go to church. It’s a big burden on their parents as well.

Is 18 cases of measles in Minnesota a cause for concern?

I would say that we’re very concerned now. The rates of measles across the world and across the United States are accelerating, they’re very high. They’re higher than they’ve been since the vaccine was introduced. The vaccination rates here in Minnesota, and I will say that it looks similar nationally, are going down. That is not a combination that you want to see, vaccination rates going down and cases of measles going up, so the time to vaccinate is absolutely right now.

Measles does not know any kind of boundaries. It is one of the most, if not the most, infectious diseases on the planet and it’s looking for unvaccinated individuals to infect. It’s not just international travel anymore, there’s enough measles in the United States that if you’re unvaccinated and you travel, you could be exposed here in the United States.

If you don’t know where you or your kiddos are on your vaccination schedules, you can look that up online or you can call your health care provider. It is never, ever too late to start the MMR vaccines series.

Is the Minnesota Department of Health doing anything differently to reach people who are distrustful?

We’re tackling both the measles situation as well as the concerns around vaccination on multiple fronts. We’re working around-the-clock with our provider partners. We issued a Health Alert earlier last week, letting them know that there are measles, so that when a child comes into a clinic and they have a kind of virally looking illness, measles is high on their differential list.

We’re working with our local public health partners, we’re working with our education partners, we’re working with schools. And then we are encouraging folks, if they still have questions, to talk to their trusted doctor or nurse practitioner.