COLUMBIA, S.C. — If no new cases occur before April 26, the measles outbreak that has sickened almost 1,000 people in South Carolina's Upstate region will be considered over. Dr. Brannon Traxler, the chief medical officer for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said in a news conference Tuesday the last reported measles case was March 17. The rule is the outbreak ends if there are ...

A sign warning patients sits outside a mobile clinic offering free measles vaccinations on Feb. 6, 2026, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — If no new cases occur before April 26, the measles outbreak that has sickened almost 1,000 people in South Carolina's Upstate region will be considered over.

Dr. Brannon Traxler, the chief medical officer for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said in a news conference Tuesday the last reported measles case was March 17. The rule is the outbreak ends if there are no new cases for 42 days.

Traxler said, though, just because this particular outbreak may be over, another could occur in areas that have a low vaccination rate, like Spartanburg, where the current outbreak was concentrated.

In all, 940 people in Spartanburg got measles. The next highest was Greenville with 36. Cases were also reported in Anderson, Pickens, Cherokee, Lancaster and Sumter.

Traxler said the economic impact of the outbreak is not known — at least not yet — but 997 people, mostly children, contracted the virus. Children from birth to age 17 accounted for 899 cases.

Cases ranged from people “feeling puny to hospitalizations,” she said.

Parents had to take off work. Staff at the Department of Public Health was shifted to meet the challenge.

In all, 932 people who contracted measles were not vaccinated. The first cases were reported Oct. 2.

Monitoring will continue even after the outbreak is considered over.

“We will not let our guard down,” Traxler said.

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