Minnesota health officials say measles are circulating in the state, with recent cases concentrated in two Minnesota counties in unvaccinated people.
Jane Griffith, a senior epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, says the pattern of infections has changed…
“They have all been infected here in the United States, which is a change from what we used to see where people would get infected if they were unvaccinated and traveled out the country.”
Griffith says measles can spread without direct contact with an infected person…
“It is thought to be the most infectious virus that is known. It has the ability to linger in the air for up to two hours. So a susceptible person can walk into a room and just get infected by breathing in the air that the measles case had been in.”
She says that ability to spread through the air makes identifying cases and protecting people who lack immunity, especially important. She says vaccination is your best protection against the virus.
Since mid-September, 25 cases have been reported in two separate outbreaks, with six in Fillmore County and 19 in Todd County.
(content: in part, courtesy MNN)
