The South Carolina Department of Public Health reported Tuesday that there have been 89 new cases of measles identified since Friday, bringing the total number of cases in South Carolina’s Upstate outbreak to 789. It’s the largest outbreak in the U.S. since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in the year 2000, surpassing an outbreak in Texas last year that reached 762 cases before ending in August 2025.
Nationwide, the U.S. has identified 478 cases of measles so far this year, far surpassing the number of cases for the entirety of 2024 (283 cases) and 2023 (63 cases). Last year saw 2,253 cases in the United States.
The majority of measles cases in South Carolina are concentrated in Spartanburg County in the Upstate region, according to a dashboard the state’s department of public health has available online. The rise in measles outbreaks is a direct result of declining vaccination rates in the U.S., fueled by anti-science rhetoric and anti-vaccine activists. One such activist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., just so happens to now be the head of the Department of Health and Human Services and has spent his time in the role decimating U.S. public health infrastructure.
President Kennedy has installed anti-vaccine advocates to prominent roles at the CDC, purging scientists who actually know what they’re talking about. Dr. Kirk Milhoan, the man Kennedy appointed chair of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), recently said that the polio vaccine should be reevaluated to see if it’s still needed.
In South Carolina, it’s obvious that lower vaccination rates are driving the current outbreak. Of the 789 in the current outbreak, 692 are among people who are unvaccinated, 14 were partially vaccinated, and just 20 were fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining 63 is unknown.
The measles cases in South Carolina have been primarily in kids under the age of 18, with 203 cases identified in those under 5 years old, 493 cases in kids 5-17 years old, and 65 cases in those 18+. There are also 28 cases where the ages are not specified.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health published a new list of schools where kids are currently in quarantine, and its length really drives home how rapidly this is all spreading among kids.
- Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary (59 students in quarantine)
- Campobello Gramling School (46 students in quarantine)
- Libertas Academy (28 students in quarantine)
- Cooley Springs-Fingerville Elementary (22 students in quarantine)
- Crestview Elementary (22 students in quarantine)
- Boiling Springs Elementary (21 students in quarantine)
- Starr Elementary (17 students in quarantine)
- Sugar Ridge Elementary (17 students in quarantine)
- Fairforest Elementary (13 students in quarantine)
- Berry Shoals Elementary (13 students in quarantine)
- Rainbow Lake Middle (12 students in quarantine)
- Global Academy (11 students in quarantine)
- Boiling Springs High (11 students in quarantine)
- Mayo Elementary (8 students in quarantine)
- Cannons Elementary (8 students in quarantine)
- Abner Creek Middle (7 students in quarantine),
- Landrum High (6 students in quarantine)
- Oakland Elementary (6 students in quarantine)
- Mabry Middle (6 students in quarantine)
- Chapman High (fewer than 5 students in quarantine)
Fourteen other states have also seen measles cases pop up this year, according to the CDC’s website, including Florida, which has identified three cases, and California, which has also identified three cases. Wisconsin just identified its first measles case of the year this week.
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