Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Health officials in Illinois are trying to find the source of a measles infection, after five babies were diagnosed with the contagious respiratory disease in a Chicago suburb. Saying that more cases are likely, a health official warns, "The cat is out of the bag."


Because the Illinois patients are all under a year old, they can't be 

. The new cluster of cases joins more than 100 other reports of measles in 14 states this year; most of them have been traced to an outbreak at Disneyland in California in December.
From Chicago member station 


The new cases come a week after the Chicago area's first measles diagnosis; 

 says officials don't think the cases are related.


"We will do everything we can to identify if there is a point source, we're try[ing] to do our best identifying that. But at some point the cat is out of the bag," says Dr. Terry Mason of the Cook County Department of Public Health, according to the station.

KinderCare, a national chain that operates some 1,600 child care centers, says it's "working diligently" with Cook County on the case.


The recent spate of measles cases has put new focus on vaccination laws like that of California, one of 19 states where parents don't have to vaccinate their children before enrolling them in school, as 

 Thursday.
The blog's Poncie Rutsch also notes that 

Health

The new cluster of cases joins more than 100 other reports of measles in 14 states this year; most of them have been traced to an outbreak at Disneyland in California in December.

Officials predict more measles cases after 5 babies are diagnosed in Illinois

Go Deeper.

Like this?