South Carolina's measles outbreak is now confirmed to be in Spartanburg County as the state's public health department reported two new cases of the highly-contagious virus.
Since July, the state has recorded 10 cases of measles.
Eight of those cases are in Spartanburg County, the state public health department said.
South Carolina is one of 42 state outbreaks that have reported a total of 1,544 measles cases as of Sept. 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported 92% of those cases were in unvaccinated people or were unknown.
The state Department of Public Health said some people were exposed to the virus through travel or close contacts. The current outbreak has no identified source, which the department said suggests the measles virus is circulating through the community and could result in more confirmed cases.
State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said early this month the department expected more cases to be identified. The department then did not say which county had the outbreak, but said at the time that the outbreak was centered around an Upstate school.
Bell said the state's measles cases were confirmed in unvaccinated people, who did not have immunity from a previous measles infection or natural immunity.
The two new cases reported Tuesday were also unvaccinated, the department confirmed.
"At this time, we are investigating known cases in a school," said Bell, who added that parents in the school have been notified about the outbreak.
Two MMR vaccine doses are required to register for K-12 school.
For the 2023-24 school year, the department said 92.1% of kindergarten students had two doses of the MMR vaccine, down from 95% in the 2019-20 school year.
In Spartanburg County, the department reported 90% of students had required vaccinations in the 2024-25 school year, down from 95.1% in the 2020-21 school year.
Religious exemptions in the county have increased in the past five years.
In the 2020-21 school year, 3.4% of students had religious exemptions, DPH reported.
The department reported that number jumped to 8.2% in the 2024-25 year.
Measles is very contagious, and spreads after an infected person sneezes or coughs.
Symptoms start with a fever, cough and runny nose. Those symptoms then are followed by a rash that can last nearly a week. The virus can cause complications that include pneumonia, swelling of the brain and death, the department said.
One infected person can spread the virus to eight to 20 people, Bell said.
Bell encouraged anyone who is sick to stay home and call a health care provider before visiting a clinic to help keep the spread slow.
Bell said the vaccine is the best way to protect against measles.
"Our concern level is for the entire state," Bell said early this month. "... It doesn't matter what region you live in. We are seeing unrecognized spread in this state."
