South Carolina Ends 997-Case Measles Outbreak After Six Months of Containment

U.S. since 1991 on Monday. The state marked 42 days with no new cases reported related to the outbreak on Sunday. Over a six-month period starting last October, 997 people were infected with measles in South Carolina.

Most of the 997 infected people in South Carolina were unvaccinated children. At least 21 people were hospitalized with measles complications in South Carolina. The virus infected nearly 1,000 people in the state before the state declared it over.

The measles outbreak in South Carolina was largely contained to the northwest region of the state. The measles outbreak in South Carolina was centered in Spartanburg County. C. in January. Dr. Edward Simmer is the interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health.

Dr. Edward Simmer said the outbreak never went statewide thanks to timely investigations, identification of those exposed, and people's willingness to stay home. "In many ways, this was a textbook response to dealing with an outbreak," Simmer said, according to NPR.

Dr.

Strict public health measures and increased vaccination helped curb the outbreak in South Carolina. The majority of schools in Spartanburg County had measles vaccination rates below the 95% threshold required to prevent outbreaks. Dr.

Brannon Traxler said pockets of people who lack immunity remain in Spartanburg County and throughout the state, so there is an ongoing risk there. At a briefing Monday, Traxler said while many measles cases were mild, "it was, at times, life-threatening or potentially long lasting for others," NPR reported. , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

5% of kindergartners had received the measles vaccine in the 2024-2025 school year, according to the CDC. S. reported 2,288 cases of measles last year. , according to the CDC. Three people died from measles last year, including two school-age children in Texas.

The year 2000 was when measles was declared eliminated in the country. Measles elimination status is a technical designation given to countries that have gone a year without a continuous chain of transmission. , with more than 20 outbreaks currently active, NPR reported.