Flashback: Measles Outbreak In 2011 Sickened 21

MINNEAPOLS (WCCO) -- The University of Minnesota is in the news this week after a student tested positive for measles – the first confirmed measles case for the school in 20 years. But it hasn't been long since Minnesota experienced an actual outbreak.

In 2011, a measles outbreak sickened 19 children and two adults in Minnesota. It was eventually linked to one unvaccinated child, according to the findings of a June 2014 report published in Pediatrics.

The report says an unvaccinated 2-year-old was taken to Kenya where he contracted the virus. He then returned to the United States where he passed the virus to three children at a drop-in child care center and a household member, triggering the outbreak. Over 3,000 people were eventually exposed.

Nine of the children who were infected were old enough for the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine but had not been given it. Most of those children's parents feared the vaccine would cause autism.

Like the initial child, most of the children infected were of Somali descent. MMR acceptance among Minnesota's large Somali population has plummeted since 2004.

For more, read the CBS News article.