South Carolina Measles Outbreak Climbs to 789 Cases as U.S. Elimination Status at Risk
South Carolina’s measles outbreak, centered in Spartanburg County, has surged to 789 confirmed cases — surpassing the 762-case West Texas outbreak — with more than 690 patients unvaccinated, only 20 fully vaccinated, 18 hospitalizations and hundreds of students quarantined. The state surge is part of a national resurgence (more than 2,200 U.S. cases in 2025 and over 400 so far in 2026) that has put U.S. measles‑elimination status at risk ahead of an April 2026 regional review, a vulnerability experts tie to falling MMR coverage and recent federal changes to childhood‑vaccine policy and rhetoric.
📌 Key Facts
- South Carolina’s outbreak is now the largest reported U.S. cluster: state officials report 789 confirmed measles cases centered in Spartanburg County (89 new cases since Friday); more than 88% of cases are in children under 17, at least 18 people have been hospitalized, and the outbreak has surpassed the 762-case West Texas outbreak from 2025.
- Vaccination status of South Carolina cases: only about 20 of the 789 patients had the full two‑dose MMR series, roughly 14 had one dose, and more than 690 were completely unvaccinated; dozens of Spartanburg‑area schools (about 20) and many children have been quarantined, and public exposure sites have included schools, a Publix grocery and the South Carolina State Museum.
- National measles burden is at a decades‑high: CDC data and multiple reports show roughly 2,100–2,240+ measles cases in the U.S. in 2025 across about 44 states (the worst year since 1991), and CDC has confirmed over 400 cases in 2026 so far (PBS: 416 confirmed as of the latest update).
- The U.S. faces possible loss of measles‑elimination status: regional/WHO verification bodies (PAHO/WHO) will meet in April 2026 to determine whether a single transmission chain has persisted ≥12 months; CDC is sequencing viruses (main strain in major outbreaks identified as D8‑9171) to assess whether continuous domestic circulation has occurred.
- Vaccination coverage has declined markedly: national MMR/childhood vaccine coverage is below the 95% herd‑immunity threshold (national MMR coverage ~92.5%; recent kindergarten rates ~92.7–93%), about 138,000 kindergartners had exemptions in 2024–25, a county‑level analysis shows only 815 U.S. counties meet 95% coverage and an estimated 5.2 million kindergarten‑age children live in counties below that threshold.
- Policy changes and controversy: HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the administration implemented an overhaul reducing universally recommended childhood vaccines (reported cut from 17 to 11), removed the universal hepatitis B birth dose, and made schedule changes without the usual open advisory process; critics (including prominent epidemiologists and vaccine experts) say these moves and public questioning of vaccine safety have contributed to confusion and declining uptake.
- Earlier outbreaks and transmission dynamics: the West Texas (Gaines County) outbreak in 2025 officially involved at least 762 cases and two child deaths (with evidence of undercounted suspected pediatric cases locally), and the current major epicenters include South Carolina and a Utah–Arizona (Short Creek) region (Short Creek totals reported in the low‑200s on both sides of the border); CDC analysis indicates roughly 90% of recent cases were acquired domestically rather than imported.
- Public‑health response measures: health departments are conducting contact tracing and sequencing, notifying exposed individuals (including at Clemson University), and enforcing quarantine guidance — exposed people without documented immunity must quarantine 21 days unless they receive MMR within 72 hours of exposure (which waives quarantine) — while experts criticize mixed messaging from some federal officials and warn more action is needed to stop outbreaks.
📊 Analysis & Commentary (1)
The shocking collapse of American vaccination
"The piece is a critical commentary on the rise in U.S. measles cases, arguing the surge is the predictable result of falling vaccination coverage driven by policy rollbacks, underfunded public-health systems, and misinformation, and calls for immediate federal and local action to restore herd immunity and public trust."
📰 Source Timeline (13)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 28, 2026
3:36 PM
South Carolina measles outbreak hits nearly 600 new cases in just over a month
New information:
- South Carolina officials now report 789 confirmed measles cases centered in Spartanburg County, with 89 new cases since Friday.
- CDC has confirmed 416 measles cases nationwide so far in 2026, nearly 20% of the 2025 total, with cases reported in at least 12 states beyond South Carolina.
- Utah and Arizona’s Short Creek outbreak has reached 222 cases in Mohave County, Arizona, and 216 in Utah, with new cases in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties.
- Hundreds of children across dozens of South Carolina schools have been quarantined, some multiple times, due to measles exposures.
January 27, 2026
8:26 PM
South Carolina measles outbreak now larger than Texas', new data shows
New information:
- South Carolina’s ongoing measles outbreak has reached 789 cases as of the latest state report, surpassing the 762-case 2025 West Texas outbreak.
- At least 18 people in South Carolina, including children, have been hospitalized; more than 88% of cases are in children under 17.
- Only 20 of the 789 South Carolina patients received the full two-dose MMR series, over 690 were completely unvaccinated, and 14 had just one dose.
- Twenty Spartanburg-area schools currently have students in quarantine, with three more schools reporting exposures and pending quarantine counts.
- Nationally, the U.S. logged more than 2,200 measles cases in 2025 and has already recorded over 400 measles cases in 2026, per CDC data.
January 22, 2026
9:45 AM
The 30-year high in US measles cases, in one chart
New information:
- Axios reports that U.S. measles cases are now at a 30‑year high and that the country is on track to lose its measles 'elimination status.'
- The current wave began with a large outbreak in West Texas and now includes infections in nine states, with hundreds of people under quarantine in South Carolina.
- South Carolina and a Utah–Arizona border region are described as the two major current outbreak epicenters, both in areas with vaccination rates below the 95% herd‑immunity threshold.
- The earlier Texas outbreak, declared over in August, involved at least 762 cases—mostly in children—and two deaths, the first U.S. measles fatalities in a decade.
- Axios highlights that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other Trump officials initially downplayed measles risks and spread misleading claims about the MMR vaccine before later affirming it as the most effective prevention.
2:07 AM
Loss of measles-free status would be "cost of doing business," new CDC deputy says
New information:
- CDC principal deputy director Ralph Abraham said he is 'unbothered' by the prospect of the U.S. losing measles-elimination status, calling it 'the cost of doing business with our borders being somewhat porous' and framing non-vaccination as a matter of 'personal freedom.'
- CDC data in the piece indicate that only about 10% of measles cases since Jan. 20, 2025 were imported, with roughly 90% acquired domestically — a shift from the post‑2000 pattern where imported cases rarely sparked outbreaks because of high vaccination coverage.
- The main measles virus strain in major U.S. outbreaks (South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, Texas) is D8‑9171; CDC scientists are now sequencing full genomes (~16,000 bases) to determine whether U.S. viruses are more closely related to each other than to strains in Canada and Mexico in order to assess continuous circulation for WHO/PAHO.
- A record number of kindergartners — about 138,000 in 2024–25 — have vaccine exemptions, reflecting loosened state school-vaccination requirements and falling coverage.
- The article details how HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has repeatedly used national platforms to raise debunked claims that vaccines cause autism, brain swelling and death, which experts say has muddied public understanding and contributed to declining uptake.
- Public-health experts like Paul Offit and Jennifer Nuzzo sharply criticize Abraham’s 'cost of doing business' comment and the administration’s focus on genetic technicalities to preserve measles-free status, arguing attention should be on stopping outbreaks and that the framing is callous given recent U.S. measles deaths.
January 20, 2026
7:44 PM
Measles cases surge in South Carolina as U.S. risks elimination status
New information:
- South Carolina has reported 646 measles cases since October, centered in Spartanburg County, with 88 new cases announced Tuesday.
- Recent public exposure sites in South Carolina include multiple schools, a Publix grocery store, and the South Carolina State Museum.
- CDC data cited in this piece say the U.S. recorded over 2,240 measles cases in 2025 (slightly higher than the 2,144 previously reported) and at least 171 measles cases nationwide as of Jan. 13, 2026.
- The Pan American Health Organization will meet in April to review U.S. and Mexico measles-elimination status, and infectious-disease physician Dr. Demetre Daskalakis says he is skeptical the U.S. will maintain its status.
- Daskalakis characterizes the current situation as evidence of a weakened U.S. public-health infrastructure, saying, "If this is our vital sign, we're in the ICU," and warning measles could become an everyday occurrence.
7:13 PM
The U.S. is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status
New information:
- International health authorities (through the regional verification system) will meet in April 2026 to decide whether the U.S. loses its measles-elimination status, focusing on whether a single transmission chain has persisted at least 12 months.
- The CDC confirmed 2,144 measles cases across 44 states in 2025, with nearly 50 distinct outbreaks, the highest U.S. measles burden since 1991.
- Texas’s West Texas outbreak officially sickened 762 people in Gaines County with two child deaths, but state data show 182 additional suspected pediatric cases went unconfirmed in March 2025 alone, implying roughly a 44% local undercount.
- National MMR coverage is 92.5%, below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity, with some communities far below that level amid rising exemptions, access barriers and disinformation.
- Experts quoted in the article directly tie the current vulnerability to years of declining routine vaccination and to Trump‑era health officials who publicly questioned vaccine safety and cut funding for local immunization‑promotion efforts, while HHS now claims Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasizes vaccines as the best measles prevention.
January 19, 2026
10:51 PM
Measles outbreak reaches a major South Carolina college campus
New information:
- South Carolina’s current measles outbreak, centered in Spartanburg County, has produced 558 confirmed cases.
- The South Carolina Department of Public Health has notified Clemson University of a confirmed measles case in an individual associated with the university, who is now in isolation.
- Clemson states that nearly 98% of main‑campus students have documented measles immunity, and DPH is conducting contact tracing, with exposed individuals to be notified by email about quarantine requirements.
- Doctors on the ground report that cases have more than doubled in a week, with over 200 new infections in the past 7–9 days, and warn "this is about to get a lot worse."
- DPH guidance specifies that exposed people without documented immunity must quarantine for 21 days unless they receive an MMR dose within 72 hours of last exposure, in which case quarantine is waived.
January 15, 2026
2:57 PM
Measles cases climb in the U.S. after 2025 was worst year in decades
New information:
- CDC now reports 171 measles cases so far this year across nine U.S. states.
- CBS frames 2025 as the worst measles year in the U.S. since 1991, aligning with and sharpening earlier 'most in more than 30 years' language.
- Dr. Celine Gounder provides updated on-air guidance on what the public should know about the rising cases, reinforcing concern over current transmission.
January 09, 2026
8:59 PM
RFK Jr. cast doubt on a key vaccine. This country can't wait to get it
New information:
- Confirms that hepatitis B is one of the vaccines removed from the universally recommended U.S. childhood schedule, with the birth dose explicitly scrapped.
- Reports that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has specifically questioned the safety and efficacy of the hepatitis B newborn dose and linked a long‑used ingredient to autism without citing evidence.
- Cites an internal HHS memo showing 20 peer nations (all but Denmark and Finland) still recommend universal hepatitis B vaccination for children, either at birth or later.
- Provides U.S. mortality context: public health experts attribute more than 1,800 deaths annually in the U.S. to hepatitis B.
- Includes expert reaction from Dr. Samuel So of Stanford Medicine, who says the move is 'really sad' and has 'done so much damage to the reputation of the CDC.'
January 05, 2026
10:39 PM
Map shows more than 1,900 measles cases across U.S.
New information:
- Confirms that U.S. measles cases in 2025 surpassed 2,000 nationally, with infections in at least 44 states.
- Details that the West Texas outbreak alone accounted for more than 760 confirmed infections and caused two deaths in unvaccinated children with no underlying conditions.
- Notes an additional measles death in New Mexico involving an adult, and that the last prior U.S. measles death was in 2019 in California.
- Provides updated national kindergarten measles vaccination rates: about 93% in 2021–22 and 92.7% in 2023–24, down from 95.2% in 2019–20, explicitly tying them to the herd‑immunity threshold.
- Reports that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite a history of vaccine skepticism, publicly urged people to get the measles vaccine in an April interview while opposing mandates.
8:41 PM
Health officials slash the number of vaccines recommended for all kids
New information:
- CDC is formally reducing the number of universally recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 in an 'unprecedented' overhaul of the immunization schedule.
- Vaccines for rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, and seasonal flu are no longer recommended for all children; they are now limited to high‑risk children or placed under 'shared decision‑making' with clinicians.
- The overhaul follows a Dec. 5 presidential memorandum directing HHS and CDC to compare U.S. childhood vaccine recommendations with those of 'peer, developed countries.'
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump are explicitly framing the change as aligning with 'international consensus' to rebuild trust, citing a comparative review of 20 countries.
- The internal assessment underpinning the changes was authored by Martin Kulldorff (HHS chief science officer and briefly CDC advisory chair) and Tracy Beth Høeg (acting head of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research).
- Officials confirm the new schedule was implemented without the usual formal public‑comment process or the standard, open ACIP recommendation process and without input from vaccine manufacturers.
- Prominent epidemiologist Michael Osterholm publicly denounces the move as 'radical and dangerous,' warning it will sow confusion and put children’s lives at risk.
- Senior HHS officials, while justifying the changes as trust‑building, cite declining uptake in routine childhood vaccines, including measles, as evidence of reduced public trust.
December 31, 2025
6:52 PM
Vaccination rates plummet nationwide. See how your county compares
New information:
- Washington Post county-level analysis finds only 815 U.S. counties have reached the 95% vaccination threshold considered necessary for measles herd immunity.
- At least 5.2 million kindergarten-age children live in counties where vaccination rates are below the 95% herd-immunity level.
- Vaccination coverage for school-age children has plunged in hundreds of counties, with particularly consistent high coverage in New England, Arkansas, California and Texas.
- CDC July 2025 data showed vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners decreased for all reported vaccines during the 2024–25 school year, confirming a broad-based decline.
- Axios links the county-level declines and outbreaks to recent federal policy moves by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump to overhaul childhood vaccination schedules, including advisory votes to change MMR/MMRV use and to end the universal birth dose recommendation for hepatitis B.
December 30, 2025