South Carolina Measles Cases Hit 434 in Outbreak Surge

Health officials in South Carolina reported 124 new measles cases since Friday, pushing the state's total to 434 in an outbreak centered in Spartanburg County. The surge, which has accelerated rapidly since the holidays, marks one of the largest measles outbreaks in the United States this year and underscores ongoing challenges in containing the highly contagious virus.

The outbreak in northwestern South Carolina began in October and has grown quickly over the past month. State health officials provide updates every Tuesday and Friday, noting that cases doubled in just the past week. On January 6, the total stood at 211, with a more modest increase of 26 cases at that time. Now, hundreds of children have been quarantined due to exposures at schools, some facing restrictions multiple times. Officials also confirmed that an infected individual visited the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia last Friday between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, potentially exposing unvaccinated visitors. The virus can remain airborne in a room for up to two hours after an infected person leaves, putting anyone present at risk.

A separate outbreak along the Arizona-Utah border has infected 418...