Overview
- State health officials reported nine additional cases on January 2, bringing the South Carolina total to 185 with 172 unvaccinated, four partially vaccinated, four of unknown status, four under investigation, and one fully vaccinated.
- The outbreak is concentrated in northwest South Carolina and is largely affecting people under 17, with transmission linked to households, schools, and churches and hundreds placed in quarantine.
- Federal data show 2,065 U.S. measles cases in 2025, the highest annual total since 1991, with ongoing outbreaks in South Carolina and along the Arizona–Utah border putting elimination status at risk.
- MMR coverage among incoming kindergarteners fell to 92.5% in 2024–25, below the 95% level needed to prevent outbreaks, even though two doses are about 97% effective.
- Public-health experts are refuting false claims about the MMR vaccine, and pediatrician Annie Andrews has made outbreak response a central theme of her 2026 Senate campaign in South Carolina.