On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) said that two more cases of measles have been recorded, bringing the total to four cases so far this year.
The additional cases come amid a nationwide surge in measles cases in 2025.
An unvaccinated child in Dakota County is one of the cases, which has health officials concerned as they say the child has not traveled outside of Minnesota in the last month and had no known exposure.
Additionally, MDH says the child was infectious while at the Mall of America theme park on May 24. Because of this, MDH is giving a warning to anyone who was at Nickelodeon Universe on that date between the hours of 5-9 p.m. that they may have been exposed to measles and to watch for symptoms.
“Anytime we confirm a case of measles unrelated to travel that has no known source, it is worrying,” said Jessica Hancock-Allen, infectious disease division director at MDH. “This is because it could be a sign that measles is spreading in the community undetected by public health and healthcare systems. It is uncertain where the child was exposed and whether others may have been exposed.”
The other case is an adult in Washington County who was exposed during domestic air travel out of state. The vaccination status of this person is unverified, MDH says.
The adult and child are each recovering at home.
“There’s the very high risk of transmission. One infected person could infect eight or nine or 10 other people,” Dr. Eric Barth, Allina Health pediatrician, said. “It’s not like a lot of other viruses where you need to have someone right up in your face, maybe coughing on you for you to get it and that’s the risk with this virus. It’s very contagious.”
Measles symptoms start with things like a fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes followed by a rash that usually spreads from the head to the whole body. It often takes eight to 12 days from exposure to develop symptoms, with the rash appearing a few days after a fever starts.
People who develop symptoms should call their health care provider before going to a clinic, MDH says, to avoid accidentally exposing other people to the disease.
The best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated. The shot immunizes against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
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According to Minnesota Department of Health Data outlining how many kindergarten students are fully vaccinated for measles, back in 2015 about 93 percent of kids were vaccinated, but about 10 years later that number dropped.
In 2024, 86 percent of children got the vaccine, according to MDH.
“There are children who have died from measles, so it can be very serious,” Dr. Barth said.“There have been many, many studies that have shown that there is no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. I would ask parents to trust their medical providers, trust their pediatricians and get their children vaccinated.”
