South Carolina is witnessing a rise in measles cases, with the highly infectious disease making its presence felt across the state.

Clemson University, home to around 30,000 students, reported on Saturday that a person linked to the university has been diagnosed with measles.

While specific details about the affected individual remain undisclosed, the university confirmed that the person is currently isolating in compliance with the South Carolina Department of Health’s regulations.

The health department is actively conducting contact tracing to identify individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. Those identified are being notified via email.

According to a statement from Clemson, nearly 98% of its student body has shown proof of immunity to measles, thanks to the two-dose measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

For those fully vaccinated, the likelihood of contracting measles is a mere 3%, with symptoms like rashes and fever generally being less severe. In contrast, an unvaccinated person faces a 90% risk of infection even with minimal exposure to an infected individual.

The cases come as measles surges across the US on the heels of last year’s record-breaking outbreak. 

South Carolina is at the heart of 2026’s outbreak with 145 cases since the start of the year, the latest CDC data, updated on January 13, shows. Since October, South Carolina has seen over 500 cases.

Officials at Clemson University (pictured in the above stock image) announced an individual ‘affiliated with the university’ had a confirmed case of measles

And as of January 16, health officials in the South Carolina report 558 cases since October 2025. State data is reported at different times than federal CDC figures.

South Carolina Department of Health has reported there are 531 people in quarantine and 85 in isolation, with the latest quarantine end marked for February 16.  

The state’s outbreak has largely been centered on Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina. Health officials have determined that infected individuals visited the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, as well as a Walmart, Wash Depot laundromat and a Bintime discount store in Spartanburg this month. 

Of the 558 cases reported in South Carolina since October 2025, 134 were in children under five, 372 were in children ages five to 17, 39 were in adults over 18 and 13 were in an unknown age group.

The vast majority, 483, individuals had not received MMR vaccines, whereas six had been partially vaccinated, 13 were fully vaccinated and 56 had an unknown status. 

The latest state data shows 91 percent of kindergarteners have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, below the 95 percent threshold needed for herd immunity.  

In some South Carolina schools, just 20 percent of students have been vaccinated. The rate in Spartanburg County is 90 percent.

According to the CDC, 93 percent of measles cases in the US in general are in unvaccinated people or those with an unknown vaccine status. Three percent have received one dose of the MMR vaccine and four percent have received both doses. 

The MMR vaccine is typically given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six. The two-dose vaccine is estimated to be 97 percent effective at preventing measles.

So far in 2026, measles cases have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Washington state. The Snohomish County Health Department in Washington reported Monday that it confirmed three measles cases in children who were exposed to a contagious family visiting from South Carolina. 

Measles is an infectious, but preventable, disease caused by a virus that leads to flu-like symptoms, a rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body, and, in severe cases, pneumonia, seizures, brain inflammation, permanent brain damage, and death.

The virus is spread through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air. Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears.

The US formally eliminated measles in 2000, meaning there had been no community spread in 12 months, due to widespread MMR vaccine uptake. 

But the level of population-wide immunity needed to stave off outbreaks and protect vulnerable populations, about 95 percent, has sunk to less than 93 percent, suggesting the cases documented in 2026 are just the beginning.

Enclosed areas like airports and planes are extremely risky locations for disease transmission. The measles virus spreads via airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Measles first invades the respiratory system, then spreads to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As a result, the virus can affect the lungs, brain and central nervous system.

Measles is an extremely contagious disease that leads to flu-like symptoms, a rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body, and, in severe cases, pneumonia, seizures, brain inflammation, permanent brain damage and death (stock image)

While measles sometimes causes milder symptoms, including diarrhea, sore throat and achiness, it leads to pneumonia in roughly six percent of otherwise healthy children, and more often in malnourished children.

Though the brain swelling that measles can trigger is rare, occurring in about one in 1,000 cases, it is deadly in roughly 15 to 20 percent of those who develop it, while about 20 percent are left with permanent neurological damage such as brain damage, deafness or intellectual disability. 

Measles also severely damages a child’s immune system, making them susceptible to other potentially devastating bacterial and viral infections they were previously protected against.  

A significant measles outbreak that started last year in West Texas, primarily within a largely unvaccinated religious community, quickly spread across state lines to the rest of the country. Texas officials have recorded more than 803 cases since January 2025.

Before MMR vaccines became available in the 1960s, measles caused epidemics with up to 2.6 million global deaths every year. By 2023, that number had fallen to roughly 107,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization estimates that measles vaccination prevented 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.