Jan 27 (Reuters) – South Carolina reported a surge to 789 measles cases on Tuesday, state health data showed, including 89 additional infections since Friday, as officials warned the widening outbreak could last weeks or months amid lagging vaccine uptake.
The outbreak, which began in October, has been centered in the northwest part of the state, which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
There are currently 557 people in quarantine and 20 in isolation. The latest end of quarantine for these is February 19, the state health department said.
Of those infected, 695 were unvaccinated, 14 were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 20 were fully vaccinated and 60 had unknown vaccination status.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Alan Barona)
