St. Paul - The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting another confirmed case of measles, which brings the total linked to an ongoing outbreak in Hennepin County to 18.
The state this year also has seen three isolated cases of measles, meaning the statewide tally now stands at 21.
Overall, 13 of the 21 patients with measles this year have required hospitalization -- up from 10 hospitalizations last week, the health department reported this morning. There have been no deaths.
The latest case extends an outbreak that started in February when a 2-year-old from Minneapolis acquired infection during a trip to Kenya.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. Because of high immunization rates, measles is no longer common in the United States. But the infectious disease is common in other countries, so unvaccinated travelers can inadvertently import measles to the U.S.
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The 2-year-old in Minneapolis who came down with measles in February was of Somali descent and had not been vaccinated due to parental concerns about vaccine safety, according to the health department. Those fears are shared by others in the Somali community, which explains why several of the outbreak cases have been reported in patients of Somali descent, health department officials say.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
