Feb 17 (Reuters) – South Carolina reported a surge to 962 measles cases on Tuesday, state health data showed, including 12 additional infections since Friday, as officials warned the widening outbreak could last weeks or months amid lagging vaccine uptake.
The outbreak, which began in October, has been centered in the northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
The South Carolina outbreak is part of the nation’s largest measles surge in more than three decades, federal health data shows.
Of those infected, 893 were unvaccinated, 20 were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 26 were fully vaccinated and 23 had unknown vaccination status.
There are currently 127 people in quarantine and eight in isolation, the state health department said.
Separately, Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday the state has reported four additional cases of measles, bringing total lab-confirmed cases to five.
On February 6, Maine’s health department had announced the first confirmed case of measles in the state since 2019.
Of the four new infections, all were among people who were unvaccinated and had exposure to the first reported case, Maine CDC said, adding that there were no new exposure risks for the public.
Last week, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary, in an interview, urged Americans to get vaccinated for measles.
“I think everyone in this administration has been pretty clear that the best way to prevent measles is to get your kid vaccinated against measles,” he said.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Jonathan Ananda)
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