South Carolina measles cases rise by 26 to 211, state health department says

Jan 6 (Reuters) – The South Carolina health department reported 211 measles cases related to the ongoing outbreak in the state on Tuesday, 26 additional cases since its last update on Friday.

The widening outbreak has been reported in the northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.

Of those infected, 196 were unvaccinated, four were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, one was fully vaccinated and four had unknown vaccination status while six were still being investigated.

There are currently 144 people in quarantine and seven in isolation. The latest end of quarantine for these is January 28, the state health department said.

Nineteen of the new cases were associated with exposures in known households and previously reported school exposures.

Four resulted from an exposure at church. The source of one case is unknown, and two are still being investigated.

Although complications from measles are not reportable, health department said that four people, including adults and children, required hospitalization for complications of the disease.

As of December 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 49 outbreaks and a total of 2,065 confirmed cases of the disease in the U.S. in 2025.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)