South Carolina is experiencing the worst measles outbreak in America since the disease was eliminated in the early 2000s, new data warns.
The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) announced Tuesday that 789 cases of measles have been reported in the state since October 2025, surpassing a massive outbreak in Texas last year that has infected over 800.
Nearly 600 of these cases in South Carolina have been reported in 2026 alone, DPH data shows, and at least 18 people have been hospitalized for complications, which can include pneumonia, brain swelling and additional infections.
No deaths have been reported in the state or nationwide so far in 2026. There were three deaths in 2025.
The South Carolina outbreak has also forced an additional 557 people into quarantine due to potential exposure to the virus and not having immunity through vaccination or prior immunity.
Exposures include Clemson University, a 30,000-student campus where an ‘an individual affiliated with the university’ had one confirmed case of measles earlier this month.
The state’s outbreak has largely been centered on Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina. Health officials have determined that infected individuals visited the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, as well as a Walmart, Wash Depot laundromat and a Bintime discount store in Spartanburg, along with multiple schools, this month.
Officials have confirmed 756 cases in Spartanburg County since October 2025.
South Carolina’s outbreak of measles, which causes the distinctive rash pictured above, has surpassed a massive surge seen in Texas last year (stock image)
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As of January 22, the CDC has reported 416 cases of measles nationwide. However, those figures are not as recently updated as the ones for South Carolina, so state data is more accurate.
A separate database maintained by Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI) reports 600 cases nationwide in 2026, with 481 in South Carolina.
Of the 789 measles cases reported by DPH in South Carolina since October 2025, the vast majority, 692, were in unvaccinated individuals, whereas 14 were in people with partial measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and 20 were in fully vaccinated individuals, which is rare, as the two-dose MMR vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing infection.
Another 63 cases were in people with unknown vaccination statuses.
South Carolina’s health department also reported 345 cases were in children ages five to 11; 201 were in children under four years old; 149 were in kids and teens ages 12 to 17; 36 were in adults 18 to 29; 25 were in people ages 30 to 49; and five were in adults over 50.
Another 28 were in people with unknown ages.
The latest state data shows 91 percent of kindergarteners have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, below the 95 percent threshold set by the CDC that is needed for herd immunity.
In some South Carolina schools, just 20 percent of students have been vaccinated. The rate in Spartanburg County is 90 percent.
According to the CDC, 93 percent of measles cases in the US in general are in unvaccinated people or those with an unknown vaccine status. Three percent have received one dose of the MMR vaccine and four percent have received both doses.
The MMR vaccine is typically given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six.
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So far in 2026, measles cases have also been reported in Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Cases in North Carolina, Washington and California have been linked to the South Carolina outbreak.
Measles is an infectious, but preventable, disease caused by a virus that leads to flu-like symptoms, a rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body, and, in severe cases, pneumonia, seizures, brain inflammation, permanent brain damage, and death.
The virus is spread through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air. Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears.
The US formally eliminated measles in 2000, meaning there had been no community spread in 12 months, due to widespread MMR vaccine uptake.
Enclosed areas like airports and planes are extremely risky locations for disease transmission. The measles virus spreads via airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Pictured above is the share of measles cases in South Carolina divided by vaccination status. While the vast majority of people were unvaccinated, cases have even been seen in fully vaccinated individuals
The above image shows the age breakdown for measles cases in South Carolina. The largest share of cases has been in children ages five to 11
Measles first invades the respiratory system, then spreads to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As a result, the virus can affect the lungs, brain and central nervous system.
While measles sometimes causes milder symptoms, including diarrhea, sore throat and achiness, it leads to pneumonia in roughly six percent of otherwise healthy children, and more often in malnourished children.
Though the brain swelling that measles can trigger is rare, occurring in about one in 1,000 cases, it is deadly in roughly 15 to 20 percent of those who develop it, while about 20 percent are left with permanent neurological damage such as brain damage, deafness or intellectual disability.
Measles also severely damages a child’s immune system, making them susceptible to other potentially devastating bacterial and viral infections they were previously protected against.
Before MMR vaccines became available in the 1960s, measles caused epidemics with up to 2.6 million global deaths every year. By 2023, that number had fallen to roughly 107,000 deaths.
The World Health Organization estimates that measles vaccination prevented 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.
