South Carolina health officials yesterday confirmed an additional 15 new cases of measles since Tuesday, as the widening outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease in the northwest part of the state has infected 126 people so far.
At least 303 people exposed to the highly contagious virus have been placed in quarantine and 13 infected people are in isolation to curb the spread of the disease, the state health department said.
Thirteen of the new cases were from known household exposures, one was from a neighbourhood contact and the other was from an unknown source still being investigated.
Of those infected, 119 were unvaccinated, three were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, one was fully vaccinated and three had unknown vaccination status.
US medical groups have grown increasingly concerned about the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime anti-vaccine activist.
The South Carolina outbreak, which state epidemiologist Linda Bell on Wednesday described as accelerating, comes as the US teeters on the brink of losing its measles elimination status.
A spate of large outbreaks this year kicked off with one in West Texas that infected more than 700 people and spread to several other states. In response to that, Kennedy made misleading claims about nutrition, vitamin A and other questionable treatments.
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