March 6 (Reuters) – Measles cases in South Carolina rose to 991 on Friday, state health data showed, an increase of one case since Tuesday as the nation’s largest outbreak in decades shows signs of slowing.
* The state has seen a 70% increase in vaccination inFebruary, compared with the same month last year. * Three CDC “disease detectives” from the agency’s EpidemicIntelligence Service are expected to arrive in the state nextweek to help analyze data collected during the outbreak,according to state health officials. * Last week, Reuters reported that a dozen non-CDC publichealth experts paid for by the nonprofit CDC Foundation werearriving in South Carolina to help the state contain theoutbreak. * According to Friday’s update, at least 52 people are inquarantine after being exposed to the virus, and another threein isolation. * Of those infected, 925 were unvaccinated, 19 werepartially vaccinated, 26 were fully vaccinated and 21 hadunknown vaccination status. * The outbreak, which began in October, has been centered inthe northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville andSpartanburg. * There was a 139% increase in measles vaccinations inSpartanburg County last month, compared to February 2025. * There were 1,281 confirmed measles cases reported in theUnited States in 2026, as of March 5, CDC’s latest data showed.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Alan Barona)
