Health Department official updates House committee on measles outbreak

More than 50 cases of measles have been reported in Minnesota this spring, mostly amongst young children, making it the worst outbreak of the disease since 1990, Kristen Ehresmann, director of infectious disease epidemiology, prevention and control at the Department of Health, told the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee Wednesday.

No action was taken.

The outbreak has effected Hennepin, Ramsey, and Crow Wing counties, impacting at least three schools, 10 child care facilities, and multiple health facilities. There have also been nearly a dozen hospitalizations, she said.

But even that doesn’t show the full picture of the department’s response since the first case was identified in mid-April.

Whenever someone “presents” with symptoms of measles, department staff have to follow up to find out where they may have been exposed to the disease and who they may have exposed. In just over a month, more than 7,000 people were exposed to the illness, each requiring additional follow-up.

“This is an extremely labor-intensive process,” said Ehresmann.

Most of the identified cases have been within the state’s Somali-American community, where vaccination rates have dropped significantly since 2008 – largely due to concern over the possible correlation between vaccines and autism, as well as misinformation campaigns within the community, Ehresmann said.

However, community leaders and parents have responded actively to the crisis and the number of MMR vaccines distributed each week has shot up from about 30 doses a week to nearly 500, Ehresmann said.

In the first 21 days of the response, the Health Department spent “well over” $200,000, with the Hennepin County Health Department racking up equal or greater, costs, Ehresmann said.

In the first half of 2017, state and local health agencies have spent nearly $3 million fighting measles, tuberculosis and syphilis, Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger wrote in a letter requesting the Legislature create a $5 million public health response contingency fund to respond to outbreaks of infectious disease and other unanticipated public health threats.

“Minnesotans rightly expect a rapid and effective response to these threats, but current state funds lack the flexibility needed to deal with emergent disease threats,” he wrote. “We cannot continue diverting funding and resources.”

Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley) lauded the suggestion to form a contingency fund and urged a stricter vaccine exemption policy.