The number of reported measles cases in South Carolina is skyrocketing — and spilling into other states.
On Friday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health said it’s confirmed 99 new cases of the disease since Tuesday, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 310.
Another 200 people who’ve been exposed to the virus — the most contagious known on the planet — are in quarantine. The outbreak is centered in the northwest part of the state, Spartanburg County.
“Some cases are travel-related exposures or close contacts of known cases,” the department said in a news release. “Other cases have no identified source, suggesting that measles is circulating in the community and could spread further.”
It already has.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced three children, siblings living in Buncombe County, were diagnosed with measles after visiting Spartanburg.
On Thursday, Washington’s Snohomish County Health Department said three people visiting the area from South Carolina over the holidays have since been diagnosed with measles. One is an adult who had at least one measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. The other two are unvaccinated children, according to the department.
“The family visited multiple locations” near Seattle while contagious, the department said, including a McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, church and trampoline park.
Elsewhere, an ongoing outbreak centered along the border of Arizona and Utah has reached 390 cases — 214 in Arizona and 176 in Utah. There's no indication that the outbreak is tied to South Carolina.
There have been multiple recent exposures across Utah, according to the state’s health department. Events at a St. George high school had exposures over four days in late December and early January. Another high school near Salt Lake City reported an exposure at a drill competition on Jan. 2 and 3.
In northeastern Ohio, three children, ages 10, 7 and 2, have been diagnosed with measles, according to NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland. A fourth child is showing symptoms, the station reported.
“The children were all unvaccinated at the time they were exposed and traveled to an area in the United States with an ongoing measles outbreak,” the Ohio Department of Health wrote on its website. Officials did not disclose the area where the family had traveled.
Last year, the U.S. had 2,144 measles cases — the highest number since 1991. The majority, 93%, were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccine status.
