South Carolina Measles Outbreak is Epicenter of Nationwide Case Surge
Clusters of cases are also reported in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
The last time our team reviewed measles cases in the U.S., Mary Chastain noted that 2025 saw over 2000 cases, and two of those were detected at airports.
Measles cases in the U.S. continue to rise this week, with the largest and fastest-growing outbreak centered in South Carolina and additional scattered cases and small clusters in at least eight other states.
Over the last three days, South Carolina alone has reported more than 100 new infections and hundreds of people placed in quarantine or isolation.
At least 171 measles cases have been confirmed in the U.S. so far this year, according to newly updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cases have been confirmed in nine states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
At least one state, South Carolina, has been facing a measles outbreak since early October, with the majority of cases in Spartanburg County, which borders North Carolina.
At least 124 new measles cases have been reported in the state since last Friday, health officials announced earlier this week.
South Carolina’s measles outbreak surges to worst in the country https://t.co/pBKVd0gJYp
— KOTA Territory News (@kotatweets) January 19, 2026
In South Carolina, over 500 are in quarantine. The state has recorded 558 cases since the start of the outbreak, with 8 of those infected requiring hospitalization.
A spokesperson for the South Carolina Health Department said in an email that “eight people, including adults and children, required hospitalization for complications of the disease since the start of the outbreak.” It was unclear how many people are currently hospitalized.
During the Friday briefing, Prisma Health pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Robin LaCroix estimated that 200 people are now “actively infected.”
The South Carolina Health Department said that 531 people are in a 21-day quarantine following an exposure to measles.
The number of cases is expected to grow. The health department’s report only reflects the number of people whose illness has been confirmed as measles by a lab.
One of the cases reported was from Clemson University.
Clemson officials say the individual has isolated per South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) requirements, and DPH is conducting contact tracing with individuals who may have been exposed and outlining isolation and quarantine protocols.
A person infected with measles is contagious four days before and after a rash begins. Isolation of an actively infectious case lasts until four full days have passed after the onset of the rash, and dates of isolation are determined by DPH. Quarantine for measles is reserved for exposed individuals without documented immunity and lasts for 21 days after last exposure per DPH guidelines. If a person without documented immunity receives a dose of MMR vaccine within 72 hours after last exposure, they do not have to quarantine.
Of course, part of this challenge is the lingering result of the COVID mandate that damaged trust in the public health “experts”.
Vaccination rates plummeted due to pandemic lockdowns. Please blame lockdown advocates for subsequent measles outbreaks. pic.twitter.com/pynpNQsR7J
— Martin Kulldorff (@MartinKulldorff) April 7, 2025
The growing number of measles cases so early in the new year is a concerning reminder of how quickly the disease can spread in under-immunized communities, especially among illegal immigrants. With outbreaks continuing in South Carolina and isolated clusters in several other states, public health officials face renewed challenges in halting transmission.
But there should also be a push for effective treatment and policies that make the American medical system more affordable and accessible.
Measles is cyclical. It always has been. Let’s remember Rockland county in NY. Or Washington state. Measles panic and terror. What ever happened to those poor victims? Oh I know. Nothing! They’re fine now with lifelong immunity
— Doug Scheer (@assemblyshows) January 19, 2026
Hopefully better public health policies will prevent 2026 from repeating the record case levels of 2025.
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Comments
Oh no. Time for a national lockdown I guess. Another few trillion thrown around.
If I remember the stats right, Canada cases are double what any of the state outbreaks are. And the highest concentrations are areas with the highest concentration of illegal immigrants who surged into the country without any vaccination requirements.
Get
Fucking
Vaccinated!
2 of every 1000 measles patients will die. Some wont die, but develop encephalitis leading to convulsions and deafness some other brain disability.
If you have a three year old and a baby, the baby is the most likely to develop complications.
Sure, covid, but two wrongs don’t make a right.
dnc: we must offer ( more) free healthcare to the world
Speaking as a fellow SC physician, I wouldn’t vote for that women in a million years. She STILL doesn’t understand that the “experts” lost enormous amounts of credibility with the Covid fiasco, and are almost single-handedly responsible for getting JFK elected. He’s doing a surprisingly good job, by the way.
20+ million illegals allowed to invade in under four years, we’re very lucky its just measles so far.
When Obama was flying illegal aliens from their home countries to cities and towns all over the US, at taxpayer expense, we got to experience an enterovirus that killed many American school children, and we also had the pleasure of dealing with Ebola.
Then there was monkey pox. That was Biden also, yeah? And Biden appointed bath-house boy, the poster child for behaviors virtually guaranteed to result in being afflicted with multiple horrific sexually transmitted diseases, to the CDC.