Minnesota health officials reported 59 new confirmed measles cases in a single week, and every one of them involved someone who was unvaccinated. The jump pushes the state's 2026 total to 139 cases, the highest annual count Minnesota has seen since 1990, and it's happening overwhelmingly among children.
According to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, the median age of those infected statewide is just 9.5 years old. The station reports that the vast majority of the newest cases trace back to known exposures tied to existing cases in Todd County, which has become the clear center of the outbreak. Minnesota officials have now logged 139 measles cases since mid-September, FOX 9 reports.
Todd County Becomes the Epicenter
Of the state's 139 cases, 115 have been reported in Todd County alone, according to CIDRAP, making it by far the hardest-hit area in Minnesota. The concentration there helps explain why health officials describe most of this week's new infections as linked to exposures already traced within the county rather than scattered, unrelated introductions.
The scale of the current outbreak stands out against Minnesota's own recent history. The 139 cases reported this year are nearly double the 74 infections recorded during the state's 2017 outbreak, the Hanford Sentinel notes. That earlier outbreak was itself considered a significant public health event at the time, which makes this year's total especially striking to officials tracking the disease's return.
Vaccination Rates Have Slipped Statewide
Part of the backdrop to this surge is a steady decline in childhood vaccination coverage. The Star Tribune reports that Minnesota's preschool measles vaccination rate fell from 92.5% before the pandemic to 86.5% in the 2024-25 school year, a drop that public health officials have been watching closely as case counts climb. The Minnesota Department of Health has said two doses of the measles vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing the disease, per FOX 9's reporting.
In response to the rising case count, the station's report notes that the state has obtained additional measles vaccine doses from federal stockpiles and distributed them to local public health agencies working to contain the spread. That effort is aimed squarely at communities like Todd County, where unvaccinated residents have made up the entirety of the newest confirmed infections.
A Wider Measles Resurgence
Minnesota's outbreak is unfolding alongside a broader national rise in measles activity. The United States had reached 5,182 confirmed measles cases after 330 new infections were reported in a single week, according to CIDRAP. Next door, Wisconsin has reported its first measles death since 1990, with the victim an infant, the Star Tribune reports — a grim marker in a region where the disease had been largely absent for decades.
With Todd County still driving most of Minnesota's new infections and vaccination rates continuing to lag pre-pandemic levels, health officials are relying on expanded vaccine access as their primary tool to slow the outbreak's spread among the state's youngest and most vulnerable residents.
