The number of measles cases, which usually causes a rash, exceeded 550 in South Carolina by Friday, as cases spread out of Spartanburg County for the first time. (iStock / Getty Images Plus)
COLUMBIA — More than 550 people have been sickened with measles in three Upstate counties, the state health department said Friday.
The number of cases exploded in the beginning of the new year, with 148 reported in the past week. Since Jan. 7, the case count has more than doubled, according to the health department.
South Carolina has among the largest outbreaks in the nation, second only to Texas, which reported more than 800 cases in 2025.
Eight people have been hospitalized for complications of measles, state epidemiologist Linda Bell told reporters. The state health department does not track cases after they are reported, so she did not give any more information about how they are doing or what type of care they received.
Travel and gatherings over the holiday season are the likely culprits for the spike in cases, she said.
When schools let out for winter break, health department officials struggled to track down unvaccinated students to let them know they’d been exposed to the virus. They continued going out and seeing family, often without knowing they were infected, increasing the disease’s spread, Bell said.
More than 180 students at 10 schools were in quarantine as of Friday, according to the Department of Public Health. For the first time since the outbreak began in October, that includes schools outside of Spartanburg County, the epicenter of the outbreak.
At Crestview Elementary School in Greenville County, 22 students are in quarantine. And Starr Elementary School in rural Anderson County reported a measles case this week, causing 10 students to quarantine.
Vaccination is the only sure way to prevent cases from continuing to spread, Bell said.
Most people receive two doses of the vaccine, which also covers mumps and rubella, during childhood. Anyone who is unvaccinated but wants protection from measles can get the shots at a doctor’s office or health clinic.
At least 87% of those diagnosed with measles during the outbreak are unvaccinated, according to the health department. The agency has not been able to determine a vaccination status for another 56.
“This is a disappointment, to see these now hundreds of cases that a majority of them could have been prevented, and we have an opportunity to prevent further cases if people can adopt available tools and help us stop this outbreak sooner rather than later,” Bell told reporters this week.
Measles can cause dangerous complications, especially for children, who make up the majority of those sickened during the outbreak. Symptoms typically start with a fever, followed by a rash that often begins on the face before spreading to the rest of the body. In severe cases, measles can cause pneumonia or brain swelling, which can sometimes be fatal.
