A bubbling measles outbreak in the upstate of South Carolina has forced 153 unvaccinated children out of the classroom and into quarantine for a minimum of 21 days.
The South Carolina cases have been identified in two schools (one elementary school and one charter school with students from kindergarten through 12th grade).
The Minnesota health department said 20 cases have been confirmed so far this year.
Along the Arizona-Utah border, 103 people have been diagnosed with measles in one of the largest multistate outbreaks of 2025.
Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 1,563 measles cases in 2025 as of Oct. 7, with the majority linked to outbreaks within the U.S. rather than from international travel.
In South Carolina’s upstate, 153 unvaccinated children have been placed in quarantine for at least 21 days due to a roiling measles outbreak.
Additionally, 118 students in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota are under quarantine as part of a small outbreak that has been spreading for the past month. following their exposure to the highly contagious virus, according to health officials on Friday.
Due to the limitations, parents must watch for fever, rash, and other symptoms during three weeks of remote learning.
Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease specialist and the director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, stated that “communities are having to bear the price of quarantining so many children.”. “Stay tuned for more.”. The frequency of these occurrences will increase. “.”.
Continuous, active transmissions.
While there is no known connection between the measles case in Greenville County and seven other cases in nearby Spartanburg County, the South Carolina Department of Public Health announced the diagnosis on Thursday.
At a news conference Thursday, Dr. Linda Bell, the South Carolina Department of Public Health’s state epidemiologist, stated, “What this new case tells us is that there is active, unrecognized community transmission of measles occurring.”.
There are two schools in South Carolina where the cases have been found: an elementary school and a charter school that serves students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade.
Bell stated that unvaccinated children who were exposed to the virus will be “excluded” from school for three weeks, which is the amount of time it may take for symptoms to appear after a measles exposure.
“We can effectively stop the measles virus from spreading in those schools and in our communities with those measures,” she said.
The K–12 measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rate in Spartanburg County was 90 percent for the 2024–25 school year, according to NBC News data. This is less than the 95 percent level that physicians say is required to prevent an outbreak. The MMR vaccination rate in nearby Greenville County was 90.5%.
So far this year, 20 cases have been confirmed, according to the Minnesota Health Department.
In one of the biggest multistate outbreaks of 2025, 103 people have been diagnosed with measles along the Arizona-Utah border. In other regions of the state, 14 cases have also been reported by Utah health authorities.
According to David Heaton, public information officer for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, school district officials in impacted areas of southwest Utah wrote letters to parents informing them of the outbreak.
However, Heaton stated that families had the final say over whether or not their children should skip school.
America’s childhood vaccination rates are declining. S. . Measles, which has been eradicated domestically for the past 25 years, is becoming more prevalent in areas where people are susceptible to infection.
According to an NBC News investigation, since 2019, more than three-quarters of counties and jurisdictions have seen a significant drop in childhood vaccination rates. Additionally, 67 percent of states with data on children who receive the MMR vaccine lack adequate coverage for herd immunity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of October 2025, 1,563 measles cases had been confirmed nationwide. 7, most of which were connected to U.S. S. . instead of traveling abroad.
These are some possible measles symptoms.
a headache and a fever that can reach over 104 degrees.
Runny nose and coughing.
teary, red eyes.
tiny white .s inside the mouth.
Starting on the scalp, the rash spreads to the arms, legs, neck, and trunk.
The United States will lose its measles elimination status if outbreaks persist until the end of January, which is the anniversary of the beginning of the massive outbreak in West Texas.
