COLUMBIA, S.C. — Only one state has logged more measles cases this year than South Carolina, according to the newest federal count, a sign of how long the shadow of last winter’s Upstate outbreak has lasted.
Federal disease trackers listed 670 confirmed South Carolina cases for 2026 through Nov. 5. Pennsylvania leads the country with 1,476. Across the United States the count has reached 5,182, more than twice the 2,289 cases recorded in all of 2025 and the highest yearly total in decades. Almost every patient was unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination history.
Most of the state’s total traces back to the outbreak that started in the Upstate in October 2025, centered on Spartanburg County. The state Department of Public Health declared it over on April 26 after counting 997 cases, the biggest measles outbreak in the country in about three decades.
Most people infected in that outbreak were close contacts of known patients, but exposures at public places showed the virus was also moving through the wider community. No one died, though some patients needed hospital care, and most of those were children.
The outbreak is over, but the virus has not disappeared. Scattered new cases have kept turning up around South Carolina since spring, and the state still ranks second as of the latest federal update.
Health experts advise anyone who thinks they may have measles to call a hospital or doctor’s office before showing up, so staff can take isolation steps. Early symptoms can look like a cold before a rash appears a few days later, and testing is the only way to confirm a case. Two doses of the measles vaccine remain the best protection.
From the HERE City State Desk
Filed under: Lexington SC Health News
