South Carolina measles outbreak: South Carolina health officials counted 176 measles cases linked to the state’s current outbreak as of Tuesday, marking 20 new infections since Friday’s tally.
The expanding outbreak has concentrated in the northwestern section of the state, encompassing Greenville and Spartanburg, the South Carolina Department of Public Health reported.
Authorities have placed 287 people under quarantine with two others in isolation.
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Among infected individuals, 165 hadn’t received vaccines, four got one shot of the standard two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, one completed both doses and four had unclear vaccination records.
Linda Bell, the state’s top epidemiologist, pointed to holiday gatherings and travel as probable factors behind the case spike. “We do believe that the holidays contributed to this, in terms of activities that people may have participated in, without being as cautious as they could be, and sort of opting to just participate in other activities without paying attention to disease transmission in our communities,” Bell said.
The health department traced seven fresh cases to known household contacts, five to a previously identified school exposure, two to church gatherings and one to either school or church settings.
Officials haven’t pinpointed sources for four cases, with another still under investigation. “So the trajectory that we’re looking at now is that we do anticipate more cases well into January,” Bell said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logged 50 measles outbreaks and 2,012 confirmed cases nationwide through December 23 this year, a sharp jump from 16 outbreaks documented in 2024.
Federal health authorities classify an outbreak as three or more connected cases.