Way of Truth Church in Inman, S.C.
Inman, S.C. city limit

Hundreds of people, including children, are quarantined in South Carolina on the heels of an upstate measles outbreak, which health leaders said stems from a lack of vaccinations and recent holiday travel.

At least 111 people have contracted measles since the outbreak began in early October, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH). Of the cases reported in the state's northwest region, 105 people were unvaccinated, state epidemiologist Linda Bell announced during a Wednesday, Dec. 10, news briefing.

The remaining six included three people who received only one of the two recommended MMR doses, Bell said, while another person was vaccinated and the vaccination status of the other two is unknown.

At least 254 people have been placed in quarantine − 16 of them in isolation, Bell said.

"This significant jump in cases is unfortunate," Bell said. "Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent the disruption that measles is causing to people's education, to employment and other factors in people's lives in our communities."

Bell said authorities traced 16 infections to the Way of Truth Church in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of the state. The church, in the city of Inman, is part of South Carolina's Upstate region which also includes Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, and Union counties.

More than two dozen new measles cases reported in South Carolina since Dec. 5

Since Dec. 5, Bell said, 27 new cases had been reported, bringing the total number reported to the DPH this year to 114.

Declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, measles recently made a comeback as vaccination rates have dropped.

Earlier this year, two children ages 6 and 8, died from measles amid an outbreak in Texas where Department of State Health Services data revealed more than 94% of cases were in unvaccinated people, USA TODAY previously reported.

"If people are willing to be vaccinated, receiving an MMR vaccination within 72 hours of exposure has been shown to prevent measles infections," Bell said.

What is measles and how is it spread?

Measles is a highly contagious, viral infection that primarily, and most severely, affects children. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it infects the respiratory tract before spreading throughout the body.

It's a vaccine-preventable disease, and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, one in five unvaccinated people who contract the virus end up hospitalized.

Measles is spread through contact with infected nasal or throat secretions, or by breathing in the virus after it's coughed, sneezed or sent into the air by an infected person, according to WHO. The measles virus can remain contagious in the air or on contaminated surfaces for up to two hours.

Symptoms of measles

Measles symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days after contact with the virus and typically include high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, according to the CDC. Measles rash appears three to five days after the onset of the first symptoms.

Other signs and symptoms of the virus include:

  • Koplik spots, tiny white spots that may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin
  • High fever. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Cough
  • Runny nose and sneezing
  • Red, watery eyes
  • Loss of appetite, diarrhea
  • Reddish-brown rash that can spread across the entire body
  • Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots (the spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body)

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At least 254 quarantined in SC over 'accelerating' measles outbreak

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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