A deadly measles outbreak in Texas ended in August, but outbreaks in other parts of the United States continue to add hundreds of new measles cases to this year’s record national total.
As AccuWeather reports, there have been an average of 27 new measles cases reported each week since the end of August, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The annual total – now up to 1,563 cases since January – is the highest by a significant margin since measles was declared eliminated in the US a quarter-century ago.
Before this year, the US had recorded only 10 large measles outbreaks – defined by the CDC as more than 50 related cases – since reaching elimination status in 2000. But an ongoing outbreak along the border between Arizona and Utah is already the third large outbreak this year.
More than 90 Confirmed Cases Related to the Outbreak Across Multiple States
There have been more than 90 confirmed cases related to the outbreak – at least 59 in Arizona and 36 in Utah, according to state health departments – and case counts continue to grow. There’s a new outbreak in Ohio, a recent surge in cases in Minnesota and more than 150 unvaccinated schoolchildren in South Carolina are in quarantine because of an ongoing outbreak there.
The measles outbreak in South Carolina has grown to 15 cases, state health officials said on Friday. As ABC News reports, the newly identified cases were close contacts of people who were quarantining at home and were not in any school settings when contagious, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (SCDPH).
The outbreak was first identified in the South Carolina upstate region in early October, according to the SCDPH. Several of the cases have been confirmed in Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina.The week prior, at least two elementary schools in Spartanburg County had sent more than 150 unvaccinated students home to quarantine for 21 days after being exposed to measles. Since then, at least five of the 150 children have contracted the disease, officials said.
In a press conference earlier in the week, South Carolina health officials said more than 100 students from Global Academy of South Carolina and Fairforest Elementary are continuing to quarantine at home. Of the more than 600 students at Global Academy, a K-5 charter school, just 17% have their required immunizations, state health department data shows. Meanwhile, Fairforest has a vaccination rate of 85%, according to the data. A vaccination rate of 95% is typically considered to be when a location or an area has herd immunity to help prevent outbreaks in communities.
As of October 15, at least 1,596 cases have been confirmed in 41 states, with more than 90% of cases among those who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. CDC data shows 44 measles outbreaks have been reported across the U.S. so far this year, compared to 16 outbreaks reported all of last year. That’s 4.5 times higher than all of 2024.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two MMR vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC said. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rise in Measles Cases Coincides with Decline in Vaccination Rates
Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years, leading to the fast rise in cases across the country.
Dr. Leisha Nolen, state epidemiologist in Utah, said there is still a lot of opportunity for measles to continue to spread in the area. “Unfortunately, I think we still have quite a while to go with infections. We know that most of our infections have been localized down towards the southern end of our state, but I think we are starting to see now people get infected even at the very north end of our state,” she said. “So I do think that this is going to continue to bop around and spread in different communities. I suspect we’re in the middle of it.”
Experts say that any amount of measles spread is cause for concern, and large outbreaks highlight the dangers of declining vaccination rates. “When you have multiple cases happening, particularly with those numbers, it’s only possible because you have susceptible individuals,” said Dr. Scott Harris, president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
“The story here is: Parents of young children are skeptical about vaccination,” Harris said. “There are lots of reasons why, but if that weren’t the case, this wouldn’t be a story, because we wouldn’t have these outbreaks.”
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