South Carolina adds 124 measles cases as Arizona-Utah outbreak expands

Independent.co reports health officials in South Carolina confirmed 124 new measles cases since Friday, as an outbreak centered in Spartanburg County has ballooned after the holidays. South Carolina has logged 434 cases as of Tuesday in the outbreak; hundreds of children have been quarantined because of school exposures, some more than once.

A person with measles also exposed people at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia on Friday. The state’s case count could soon rival a Texas outbreak last year that reported 762 cases and two child deaths, which experts believe was likely an undercount. The United States recorded 2,144 measles cases across 44 states last year, with three deaths, all of them unvaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A separate outbreak on the Arizona‑Utah border has infected 418 people since August. Arizona health officials added nine cases Tuesday for a total of 217 in Mohave County, and Utah officials added two Tuesday for a total of 201; experts in both states have said they are concerned about undercounts.

Key Topics

Health, Measles, Mmr Vaccine, South Carolina, Spartanburg County, Mohave County