Minnesota measles outbreak rises to 30 cases

News brief

A measles outbreak in Minnesota's Twin Cities metropolitan area has sickened 30 unvaccinated children so far, prompting a new push from state health officials for parents to ensure that their kids are vaccinated.

measles rash — CDC photo/Jim Goodson, MPH

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) yesterday said the outbreak is mainly affecting unvaccinated children in the state's Somali community. The first cases were reported in May and June, but the pace of infections increased in July. Patient ages range from 7 months to 10 years, with one infection reported in an adult.

About one third of the patients were hospitalized.

Though the outbreak is centered in a specific population, anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk for illness with the highly contagious virus that spreads easily and can remain in the air for up to 2 hours after an infected person leaves a room, the MDH said.

Warning comes ahead of big gatherings

Along with school starting, two big events will occur in September that will draw many people, the Islamic Association of North America Annual Convention and the Annual Minnesota Muslim Convention. The MDH urged attendees of those and other big events to be vaccinated and for people to stay home if they are unvaccinated and have been exposed to measles. Also, Sheikh Yusuf Abdulle, executive director of Islamic Association of North America, urged attendees to consider their vaccination status and for parents to ensure that children have received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Reports of measles cases have continued over the summer, part of a global rise this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its latest weekly update reported 8 more cases, raising the national total to 227 from 29 jurisdictions, the most since 2019. Of the cases so far, 155 were part of 13 outbreaks.

New Hampshire reports fatal EEE case

News brief

Lisa Schnirring

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services this week reported a fatal eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) infection in an adult from Hampstead, its first case in 10 years.

macro mosquito — Sandy Sarsfield/Flickr cc

The rare but serious mosquito-borne illness can cause severe, potentially deadly, neurologic complications. The patient had been hospitalized because of severe central nervous system disease before death.

Virus also detected in horse, mosquitoes

New Hampshire reported its last EEE case in 2014 when it reported three infections, two of which were fatal.

Along with the human case, officials reported EEE virus (EEEV) detections in one horse and seven mosquito batches this summer. They also note that neighboring states Massachusetts and Vermont have reported recent human EEE cases.

In a statement, New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan, MD, MPH, said, "We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified. The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the mosquitos. Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors."

We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified.

In its latest update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had received four reports of EEE cases, all involving the neuroinvasive form of the disease, in four states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The nation averages about 11 cases each year.