Feb 13 (Reuters) – South Carolina reported 950 measles cases on Friday, including 17 new infections since Tuesday, a drop in daily cases in the outbreak for the childhood disease.
Officials, however, have said that it is still too early to know whether the recent dip signals a slowdown.
“We have had lower day-by-day counts of reported measles cases recently. That is potentially an indication that this could be slowing, but really, it is still too early to tell,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The outbreak, which began in October, has been centered in the northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
Clinics in the upstate region, including Spartanburg, have started checking patients outdoors to keep the highly contagious disease out of crowded waiting rooms, local doctors told Reuters.
The South Carolina outbreak is part of the nation’s largest measles surge in more than three decades, federal health data show.
Of those infected, 883 were unvaccinated, 19 were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 26 were fully vaccinated and 22 had unknown vaccination status.
At least 186 people are currently in quarantine after being exposed to the virus, and nine people who are symptomatic are in isolation to keep them from spreading the disease.
The latest end of quarantine for these is March 8, the state health department said.
In response to the spread in the upstate region, the health department said it will activate its Mobile Health Unit to provide free measles-mumps-rubella and flu shots on March 3.
As of February 12, 910 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026, CDC’s latest data showed.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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