Measles outbreak spreads in South Carolina
Measles outbreak in South Carolina has increased by five cases, marking 16 as the new total
Photo courtesy of the CDC/Pexels
According to a report made by state officials on Oct. 14, 2025, there has been a measles outbreak in South Carolina. The Global Academy of South Carolina and Fairforest Elementary School have been identified as a link between several cases, with a Greenville gym being another potential site of exposure. The reported number of measles cases has now reached 16While some cases could be related to travel, state officials have definitively stated, “measles is circulating in the community and could spread further.”
USAToday noted that the Global Academy of South Carolina has a particularly low vaccination rate, with only 17% of the student population being caught up on their measles vaccinations during the 2024-25 academic year. Fairforest Elementary School, however, was reported to have 85% of its student population vaccinated during the same academic year.
According to the CDC, 95% of students need to be vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to develop herd immunity. Public health issued a statement saying that a child who may have been exposed to measles was at a Crunch Fitness in Greenville within the timeframe of 11:00am. and 3:00pm on Sept. 30. They cautioned that those who were at the location during that time and believe they may have been infected should seek a medical professional.
Since the start of the outbreak, the two schools whose students had not received a vaccination went into quarantine. On Oct. 14, it was announced that there were five fresh cases among quarantining students who had previously been exposed to measles. Due to this, they are less likely to spread the disease outside of their home, marking the quarantine as successful. Presently, 139 students are in quarantine.
Measles outbreaks are on the rise across the US. 44 outbreaks across the nation have been reported in 2025 compared to just 16 outbreaks reported in 2024. The CDC has reported 1596 confirmed cases of measles in the US this year. Measles is known to be a highly infectious virus and can remain present in an enclosed space for up to two hours since the infected person left, according to The Post and Courier.
Combatting the extremely infectious nature of measles, vaccines have been proven to prevent measles outbreaks. Receiving the advised two shots of the measles vaccination has a 97% effectiveness rate. 92% of patients who contract measles are either unvaccinated against the virus or have an unknown vaccination status. Students who attend elementary schools in South Carolina are typically required to be up to date on the vaccine, however there are religious and medical exemptions to this requirement.
People who contract measles run the risk of experiencing severe complications. Children below five and adults over 20 are at increased risk of experiencing complications from measles, according to the CDC. Around 1 out of 20 children who have measles will suffer from pneumonia, which can lead to death. Around 1 out of 1,000 children who suffer from measles will have encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain that “can lead to convulsions and leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability,” according to CDC. “In total, 197 (12%) of the 1,596 case-patients have been hospitalized, including 95 children ages 5 and under—6% of the total” as reported byCIDRAP.