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Measles in south Carolina has spread to at least 789 people, surpassing the
2025 West Texas outbreak
that sickened 762 people and killed two young girls.
The majority of cases remain centered in Spartanburg County,mostly among
people who were either unvaccinated or didn’t know their status,the
South Carolina Department of Public Health
reported Tuesday. There have been 89 new cases confirmed since Friday,
indicating that the outbreak isn’t under control.
Health officials said that 557 people are in quarantine for 21 days.
By January, cases directly linked to South Carolina had been documented in
California, North Carolina and
Washington.Several other probable cases were reported in Ohio,
according to NBC affiliate WKYC.
Dr. Zack Moore, state epidemiologist for the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Services, said he’s keeping watch on vulnerable areas in the
western part of the state with low vaccination rates and geographically close
to the SC outbreak zone.
“We know there’s a lot of back and forth travel, so that is certainly a
concern,” Moore said during a Jan. 21 media briefing.
North Carolina health officials
have reported 14 cases as of Tuesday, some with direct links to South
carolina.
More than 170 people under quarantine in Union County, North Carolina are
connected to a case at Shining Light Baptist Academy, a private Christian
school that has children as young as 6 weeks old.
The quarantine orders stem from an unvaccinated child who attends the school,
according to a
Union County Public Health alert, “and contracted measles connected to an outbreak in South Carolina. the
child
