Minnesota health officials

to mark end of measles outbreak

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota health officials plan to mark the end of the state’s largest measles outbreak in decades.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger and others plan a news conference Friday to announce the end of the outbreak and to recognize partners in the response.

If no new cases of measles linked to the 2017 outbreak are identified before Friday, Minnesota health officials will declare the outbreak over.

The measles outbreak was the largest in Minnesota since 1990 and required extensive collaboration among public health and community partners to stop it.

As of mid-July, 79 cases were confirmed in Minnesota. Nearly everyone infected was unvaccinated.

Many of those who got sick were in the state’s large Somali-American community, where many parents avoid the vaccine because of unfounded fears that it causes autism.