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Eight more people in South Carolina have come down with measles as an outbreak in the Upstate expands to 30 and the state total for the year reaches 33, the Department of Public Health said. All eight new cases were a result of close contact with previously identified people infected with the highly contagious virus. The newly ill were in quarantine at home when diagnosed, the state said. As with previous cases, all were unvaccinated. This is the largest number of new cases the state has announced in an update since the outbreak first was identified on Oct. 2. The state, meanwhile, said in a news release that quick identification of known contacts and early quarantining is helping to limit the spread of the virus. Officials initially said the outbreak centered around two schools in Spartanburg County, but have since added a Greenville gym and an unnamed Spartanburg business as sites where cases were linked. Measles is among the most infectious viruses known, and each case can result in up to 20 more infections, officials have said. One reason is the virus has been shown to remain active in enclosed spaces for up to two hours after an infected person has left it. An unvaccinated person who encounters the virus has a roughly 90 percent chance of becoming infected, doctors have said It can take seven to 14 days for symptoms to appear after infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It typically starts with a fever, runny nose or cough, and the tell-tale rash tends to appear three to five days later — usually starting on the face and spreading downward, the CDC said. The best protection against measles is the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which offers lifetime protection of 97 percent or more with the recommended two doses.
