Jan 27 (Reuters) – South Carolina reported a surge to 789 measles cases on Tuesday, state health data showed, overtaking Texas’ 2025 tally of 762 infections and marking the biggest state‑level outbreak in the country this year.
The latest count includes 89 new cases since Friday, as officials warned the widening outbreak could continue for weeks or months amid lagging vaccine uptake.
The outbreak, which began in October, has been centered in the northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
There are currently 557 people in quarantine and 20 in isolation. The latest end of quarantine for these is February 19, the state health department said.
Of those infected, 695 were unvaccinated, 14 were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 20 were fully vaccinated and 60 had unknown vaccination status.
Texas led a surge in measles cases nationally in 2025, with the United States recording its largest outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated from the country in 2000.
The outbreak in West Texas, which began in late January last year, was declared over in August and had reported 762 confirmed cases, 99 hospitalizations and two fatalities in school-aged children as of August 18, according to the Texas state health department. The state reported 803 total measles cases in 2025.
“The remainder were either related to international travel or could not be connected to the outbreak in West Texas. There have not been any cases in Texas residents since the end of the outbreak in August,” said a Texas state health department spokesperson in an email to Reuters on Friday.
As of January 22, 2026, 416 confirmed measles cases were reported in the U.S. this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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