Measles outbreaks won't end in 2025 as cases mount in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina

As measles continues to spread in the United States, it’s likely that the outbreaks that broke records in 2025 will continue into the new year.

As measles continues to spread in the United States, it’s likely that the outbreaks that broke records in 2025 will continue into the new year.

In South Carolina, 168 people, mostly schoolchildren, are in quarantine. Most of the state's 138 cases confirmed since September, nearly all in unvaccinated people, have been centered in Spartanburg County in the northwestern part of the state.

“As we identify new cases, and if those cases have susceptible contacts, that’s a new 21-day quarantine period,” Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the state Department of Public Health, said Wednesday at what has become a weekly news briefing.

That is, anyone who is unvaccinated and therefore vulnerable to measles exposures occurring now will be in quarantine through the holidays.

According to NBC News data, the K-12 vaccination rate for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) in Spartanburg County was 90% for the 2024-25 school year, below the 95% level doctors say is needed to protect against an outbreak.