South Carolina’s measles outbreak has surpassed the recorded case count from Texas’ 2025 outbreak, according to health officials cited by the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The outbreak, centered in northwestern Spartanburg County, has shown little sign of slowing, with officials confirming 789 cases since September. The AP reported that officials also confirmed 89 new cases since Friday, as the outbreak’s rapid growth has led to multiple rounds of quarantines tied to measles exposures across schools.
Officials said the outbreak has spread beyond South Carolina, and the AP reported it has also reached North Carolina and Ohio. The AP said the broader spread has contributed to hundreds of children being quarantined, including some more than once.
Separately, an ongoing outbreak along the Utah-Arizona border has continued to raise concerns about the country’s measles-elimination status, the AP reported. The AP described the area as nicknamed Short Creek, spanning the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.
In Arizona, health officials documented 222 cases in Mohave County, and the AP reported that in recent days a small number of cases were detected for the first time in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties. In Utah, officials have confirmed 216 cases, including 55 in the past three weeks, according to the AP.
The AP reported that experts in both states have expressed concern that case counts may be undercounted. It also reported that, as of Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 416 measles cases nationwide this year, nearly 20% of the 2025 case total.
The AP reported that other states with confirmed measles cases in 2026 include California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. It noted that 2025 was the worst year for measles spread in the U.S. since 1991, with 2,255 cases and nearly 50 different outbreaks. The AP said three people died in 2025, and that the victims were unvaccinated, including two children in Texas.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air and can move easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs, the AP reported. The AP also said a vaccine can prevent measles and described the disease’s progression and symptoms, including a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash, as well as potential complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
The AP reported that the CDC defines an outbreak as three or more related cases. It also laid out vaccine timing and effectiveness, saying the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. After two doses, the AP reported the shot is 97% effective against measles and that protection is considered lifelong.
The AP said measles spreads more easily in communities where vaccination rates are below 95%, describing “herd immunity” as a factor when vaccination rates are above that threshold. It also reported that childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and that more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their children from required shots.