South Carolina Is America’s New Measles Norm
The state’s measles outbreak could soon be bigger than West Texas’s. Are the two connected?
TL;DR
- The US experienced its largest measles outbreak in over three decades in 2025, centered in West Texas with 762 cases.
- A current outbreak in South Carolina has reached 700 infections and is rapidly spreading.
- Officials are investigating if these large outbreaks are connected, which could signify measles becoming a permanent domestic threat.
- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) may revoke the US's measles elimination status, held since 2000, if continuous transmission is proven.
- PAHO has confirmed the same measles strain in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Canada, Mexico, and other North American countries.
- Proving continuous transmission requires demonstrating epidemiologically linked US outbreaks and ruling out separate international introductions.
- Investigations rely on analyzing infected individuals' travel histories and comparing genetic sequences of the virus.
- Experts express concern about undercounting measles cases and the virus circulating undetected in communities with low vaccination rates.
- Some US officials have downplayed the notion of continuous spread, with one official describing the potential loss of elimination status as 'the cost of doing business'.
- The Trump administration has reportedly made it more difficult for public-health teams to respond to outbreaks and has delayed federal funding.
- The administration has also downplayed immunization benefits and emphasized nutritional supplementation, while the Health Secretary has promoted disproven claims linking vaccines to autism.