Minnesota

Minnesota facing growing number of measles cases

Published

1 year ago

September 6, 2024

Minnesota facing growing number of measles cases

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Measles is much more than a rash. It can lead to deafness, brain damage and death.

The Minnesota Department of Health has reported 46 cases of measles in the state so far this year, which is the most since 2017.

46 may not sound like a lot, but infectious disease experts are worried.

“We are all very terrified that this is just going to explode because we have such low vaccination rates in certain pockets of our population, which put a lot of kids at risk,” said Dr. Stacene Maroushek, pediatric infectious disease specialist with Hennepin Healthcare.

As a result, MDH is accelerating vaccine recommendations.

Normally, one measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is given when a child is one year old and a second when the child is four. Now, MDH recommends the second dose one month after the first.

The department is not breaking down the cases by ethnicity, but they do say measles is spreading in unvaccinated children in the Somali community. For years in that community, there have been false and unfounded reports that the vaccine is linked to autism.

“There have been millions of dollars in many studies done to basically debunk that,” said Dr. Maroushek.

Saed Yusuf says his five children are all fully vaccinated. Yusef is a registered nurse and clinical supervisor at Hennepin Health, and he’s a Somali American.

“I would say overall, it’s just lack of awareness and misconception, misunderstanding and also lack of education,” Yusuf said.

Only 24% of Somali American children in Minnesota have both measles shots. That compares to 87% of others in the population, which experts say is also a dangerously low number.

According to the CDC, measles is considered one of the most contagious of all diseases. The virus can remain active in the air and on surfaces for two hours.

Esme Murphy

Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk show host on WCCO Radio. Born and raised in New York City, Esme ventured into reporting after graduating from Harvard University.

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Minnesota

Mid-morning Minnesota winter weather update

Published

11 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Press Room

Mid-morning Minnesota winter weather update

Winter Storm Warning

until SUN 12:00 AM CST, Pipestone County, Cottonwood County, Rock County, Jackson County, Lyon County, Murray County, Nobles County, Faribault County, Watonwan County, Waseca County, Steele County, Freeborn County, Martin County, Redwood County, Blue Earth County, Brown County, Nicollet County

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Minnesota

Obituary for Marcie Moe at Johnson Funeral Service

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Obituary for Marcie Moe at Johnson Funeral Service

Marcie Lee Moe age 65, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, formerly of Grygla, MN, passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones. Born on December 10, 1959 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Marcie was the beloved daughter of Adrian Severance Johnson and Edna Irene Christianson Johnson. Marcie was baptized at St.

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Minnesota

5 key takeaways from Minnesota’s loss to Stanford at the Acrisure Invitational

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

5 key takeaways from Minnesota’s loss to Stanford at the Acrisure Invitational

Minnesota began its Acrisure Invitational journey with some great energy against Stanford, but an injury to starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr. was too much to overcome in a hard-fought 72-68 loss. Here’s what we learned.

Minnesota has been without North Dakota transfer BJ Omot and Maryland transfer Chance Stephens in every regular-season game, while starting big man Robert Vaihola missed his second straight game on Thursday with a knee injury. Things got even more scarce after two early fouls sent Willis to the bench, and he came out of the locker room with a boot on his right ankle.

The Gophers were already not a very deep team, so taking away four rotational players is a massive issue for Niko Medved and a rebuilding program.

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With Vaihola out for the second straight game due to a knee injury, Minnesota slid Grove into the starting lineup for the first time in his college career. Nehemiah Turner did not see the floor after starting last week’s loss to San Francisco, and it was an eight-man rotation.

The Gophers coughed up 14 turnovers on Thursday night, compared to only eight for Stanford. The biggest difference was that Minnesota’s turnovers resulted in 27 Cardinal points. It’s hard to point to any other stat as the largest factor in Thursday’s result.

Reynolds was the first player off the bench for Minnesota, and he provided some serious energy to begin Thursday night’s game. He had a career-high 16 points in last week’s loss to San Francisco, and it looked like he would remain at that level against Stanford, but he struggled in the second half with six points, six rebounds, four assists and six turnovers on the night.

Asuma generated all the headlines when he opted to stay with the Gophers through the coaching change, but Grove also returned after redshirting last season. The 6-foot-9 big man from Alexandria, Minnesota, got the biggest opportunity of his college career against Stanford. He finished with five points and one rebound in 19 minutes. Medved opted to roll with Durkin in the closing lineup.

The Gophers will face Santa Clara on Friday night in the consolation game of the Acrisure Invitational.

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