Stearns County Hoping to Avoid Measles Outbreak

ST. CLOUD -- With news that a child in Stearns County has contracted the measles, public health officials are preparing in the event more cases arise.

So far, 32 children in Hennepin County have confirmed cases of the measles and one each in Ramsey and Stearns Counties also have been diagnosed.

Stearns County Public Health Director Renee Frauendienst says they have been holding conference calls with providers and emergency management personnel in case of a widespread outbreak. They are also in daily contact with the Minnesota Department of Health on incident command procedures.

We are assisting the Minnesota Department of Health in the contact investigation as well as identifying kids that may have been exposed to the case.  Once they've all been identified, we'll be monitoring them for a time frame for potential symptoms and then assuring that they're excluded so that we don't potentially infect other individuals.

Frauendienst says their community health worker and other public health nurses have been conducting community outreach to provide parents in Somali neighborhoods accurate information on the MMR vaccination and the importance of inoculating their children.