The Reuters website said that the South Carolina Department of Health announced 310 measles cases linked to the ongoing outbreak in the state, an increase of 99 cases since the beginning of this week, which represents its largest increase in the ongoing wave in months.
Growing outbreak in Upstate area
The South Carolina Department of Public Health said the growing outbreak in the Upstate region of South Carolina, located in the northwestern part of the state, remains centered around Spartanburg County.
“This is the most severe increase we have seen since the beginning of the outbreak in October,” a state health department spokesman told Reuters.
Of those infected, 256 were unvaccinated, two were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines, two were fully vaccinated, and 50 had unknown vaccination status.
Most cases have been reported in children between five and seventeen years of age, followed by those younger than five years of age.
There are currently 200 people in quarantine and nine in isolation, and the state Department of Health reported that the latest date for their quarantine to end is January 29. “The number of people in quarantine does not reflect the actual number of infected people,” said Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist.
“An increasing number of public exposure sites are being identified, and there are potentially hundreds more people at risk who are not aware that they must undergo quarantine if they are not immune to measles,” Bell explained.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there will be 2,144 measles cases in the United States in 2025.
The World Health Organization is expected to make a decision this year on whether the United States will retain its status as a measles-free country.
He pointed out that for a country to be considered measles-free, it must stop the spread of the virus and be free of local infections of the same strain for 12 months or more, in addition to having high-quality surveillance systems.