The South Carolina Department of Health confirmed 13 new measles cases today, raising the state total to 933. Currently 235 people are in quarantine and six in isolation.
The Upstate South Carolina outbreak is the largest single outbreak of measles in the United States in more than three decades. Though 95% of cases have occurred in Spartanburg County, officials identified a new case-patient in Lancaster County. Officials are still investigating the source of exposure for that person.
Among 876 patients with known details, 859 were unvaccinated, 20 were partially vaccinated, and 25 were fully vaccines. Twenty-nine have unknown vaccination status.
More than two-thirds of all cases (594) in South Carolina have occurred in children ages 5 to 17. Children under the age of 5 years represent 245 cases (28%).
In other measles news, the outbreak at Ave Maria University in Florida has grown to at least 54 cases, but updates are coming only from the school and Naples-area media, and not from any official state department of health reports. Florida Health has not updated measles data since 2024.
“Since the start of the semester, 49 nurse-assessed students have progressed beyond the contagious period and now have natural immunity. Importantly, as stated above, only five students are currently within the four-day contagious period after the rash began,” a statement from the school said today.
AG pushes back against SC bill to end vaccine exemptions
Late last week, South Carolina State Senator Margie Bright Matthews authored a bill seeking to get rid of religious exemptions as they pertain to measles vaccine requirements. The current outbreak has been seeded in Christian academics with very low vaccination rates among the student population.
But the bill immediately got pushback from Alan Wilson, the state’s attorney general.
Since 2020, we’ve seen a concerted push to curtail personal liberty in the name of health and safety.
“This bill goes too far. Since 2020, we’ve seen a concerted push to curtail personal liberty in the name of health and safety. Eliminating religious exemptions and mandating medical decisions by force is not who we are as a state or country,” Wilson said. “The right to be free from compelled bodily intrusion is at the heart of the American experiment.”
