Priscilla Luna holds her 3-year-old daughter Avery Dahl, while she gets the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine from Raynard Covarrubio at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA — Only one person has newly tested positive for measles in South Carolina this week, but an Upstate outbreak could continue to spread, especially with the upcoming holidays, according to the state Department of Public Health.
As of Friday, 31 people were in quarantine, down from more than 150 a month ago. Health officials are expecting more cases in friends and family members of those in quarantine, according to a Friday news release.
The decrease in recent cases shows that 21-day quarantines are effective in stopping the disease from spreading in the community, said Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist.
Upcoming mobile health clinic locations
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Wednesday, Nov. 12: 12-4 p.m. Lyman First Baptist Church
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Thursday, Nov. 13: 12-4 p.m. Lyman First Baptist Church
Source: Department of Public Health
“We’ve got a positive sign,” Bell told reporters Wednesday of the decrease in new cases. “It is too early to say, however, that the outbreak is waning.”
For officials to declare the outbreak over, the state would need to go 42 days without a new case reported in the community, Bell said. That represents two incubation cycles for the virus.
Measles could continue to spread throughout the state during the upcoming holidays, Bell said. During the busy travel season surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas, the disease could spread quickly in airports or on crowded flights, she said.
Symptoms sometimes take weeks to show up, so people may not realize they’re sick when they travel. The state could see its case count rise in the weeks after Thanksgiving, Bell said.
“This is a risk that takes us through the Thanksgiving holidays, into the Christmas holidays, that could keep rolling along into the early part of next year if we don’t increase our vaccination rates now to get people protected before these potential exposures,” Bell said.
Early symptoms include a fever, cough, red eyes and a runny nose. A rash typically follows those symptoms, starting on the face before spreading to the rest of the body. Severe cases can cause pneumonia or brain swelling, which can be fatal, especially in young children.
Vaccination is the only sure way to stop the virus from spreading, Bell said. One dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is about 93% effective at preventing infections, and two doses is about 97% effective, she said.
Immunizations are available for free at mobile health clinics in Spartanburg County, as well as through state health departments and other clinics. Since the state’s mobile clinics launched Oct. 16, they have administered 30 shots, Bell said.
This year, 38 people have contracted the highly contagious disease, mostly part of an outbreak in the Upstate.
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