The measles virus has infected an additional 99 people in the Upstate, driving the total number of illnesses in the outbreak to 310, according to latest update from the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH).
DPH reports that the vast majority of cases are located in Spartanburg County, but some have been diagnosed in other areas. State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell told South Carolina Public Radio that six of the cases were in Greenville, while the residence of another six people is still unconfirmed.
There are currently 200 people in quarantine and nine in isolation. Dr. Bell noted that the number of people in quarantine does not accurately reflect the actual number of exposures.
“An increasing number of public exposure sites are being identified with likely hundreds more people exposed who are not aware they should be in quarantine if they are not immune to measles. Previous measles transmission studies have shown that one measles case can result in up to 20 new infections among unvaccinated contacts, Bell said.”
Students at three schools were put into quarantine. Jesse S. Bobo Elementary School was as an exposure site. It joined Sugar Ridge Elementary and Boiling Springs Elementary in quarantining students.
63 of the 99 new cases were in children and teenagers 5 to 17. And of the 310 cases, 256 were in unvaccinated people. The vaccination status of 50 cases is still unknown.
DPH said the growing public exposure sites will make locating the source of infections increasingly difficult. Only South Carolina, Utah and Arizona have active measles outbreaks, and South Carolina solidified its lead in the number of cases among those outbreaks.
