Measles outbreaks wreak havoc in US; over 100 unvaccinated children quarantined

Hundreds of unvaccinated students have been quarantined in Minnesota and South Carolina after measles outbreaks were reported in some areas of the two US states.

While Minnesota has quarantined 118 students, South Carolina has isolated 153 children for at least 21 days, as they are not vaccinated for measles and were exposed to the highly contagious virus.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research, said, “Communities are having to bear the price of quarantining so many children. Expect more of the same. This is going to happen more and more frequently.”

Earlier this week, the South Carolina Department of Public Health reported a confirmed measles case in Greenville County, with no known connection to seven other cases identified in neighbouring Spartanburg County.

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Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said, “What this new case tells us is that there is active, unrecognised community transmission of measles occurring.”

The cases in South Carolina were identified in two schools, and Bell said that unvaccinated children who were exposed to the virus will be “excluded” from classes for three weeks, the time taken for measles symptoms to show up.

According to NBC News data, the K–12 measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination rate in Spartanburg County was 90 per cent for the 2024–25 school year, below the 95 per cent threshold that doctors say is necessary to prevent an outbreak. In neighbouring Greenville County, the MMR vaccination rate was slightly higher at 90.5 per cent.

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Meanwhile, the Minnesota Health Department has said that 20 cases have been confirmed so far this year. Cases are not restricted to these two states only. Along the Arizona-Utah border, 103 people have been diagnosed with measles.

David Heaton, public information officer for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, said school district leaders in the affected areas of southwest Utah have sent letters to parents regarding the outbreak.