Measles and Vaccination: What Happened in Spartanburg County

A major measles outbreak has been centered in Spartanburg County, South Carolina since late 2025, and it has grown rapidly in early 2026. Health teams have reported hundreds of cases and many children have been quarantined while officials worked to identify exposure sites. Although most infected people were unvaccinated, a small number who had one or two MMR doses were also affected. The virus is highly contagious and can spread in crowded places such as schools and churches.

Vaccination campaigns have been expanded and mobile clinics have been set up to give MMR shots to infants and other vulnerable people. Public outreach has encouraged parents to check immunization records, because community protection requires high coverage. While county-wide vaccination is around 90 percent, pockets of low coverage have been found, including a school where only 21 percent of students had required immunizations. Therefore, vulnerable groups have remained at risk and schools have used quarantine orders to limit spread. Early MMR vaccination for infants aged six to eleven months has also been recommended in parts of the area.