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South Carolina recorded its first new measles case in a week, raising the number associated with an outbreak to 35 and the state’s total to 38, the Department of Public Health reported Nov. 7. But more are expected from family members exposed to previous cases, the state said. There are currently 31 people in quarantine who were close contacts of previous cases, a quarantine that extends for 21 days. The state is crediting a quick system of identifying and isolating close contacts of infected people for limiting the spread of the highly contagious virus. The outbreak, centered around Spartanburg County, was first reported Oct. 2 and the new case stretches the outbreak into its second month. While it initially focused around two schools in Spartanburg County, it has also involved a gym in Greenville and a business in Spartanburg and many of the recent cases had no school involvement, a health official said. The virus is assumed to be circulating in the community, a public health official has said. While the status of more recent cases was not addressed, all but one of the previously known cases were in unvaccinated people; one person had received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine instead of the recommended two. Public health is also addressing the outbreak with community education and offering no-cost vaccines at mobile clinics at various sites around Spartanburg County. Clinics will be held from 12-4 p.m. Nov. 12 and 13 at Lyman First Baptist Church, 80 Groce Road, Lyman. Since it started offering vaccines in the county on Oct. 16, the department has vaccinated 31 people, 25 adults and six children. Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer a 97 percent or greater lifetime protection against measles, doctors previously told The Post and Courier.
