The South Carolina Department of Public Health on Monday confirmed the third case of measles in the state since July.
Across the nation, more than 1,400 people this year have contracted the disease, which was thought to have been eliminated in 2000 thanks to vaccinations, according to one report. Measles is highly contagious and is spread through the air when someone coughs, sneezes or breathes. It can lead to hospitalization and also death.
The third South Carolina case was of an unvaccinated Upstate resident who had not previously had measles, the department said. The patient recently returned from an international trip to an unnamed country with a measles outbreak.
“They do not have a specific, known exposure to someone with measles, but they did have a recent international trip to a country with an ongoing measles outbreak and were not contagious while traveling,” the agency said in a release.
The first case this year, reported in July, also came from an unvaccinated Upstate resident who had recently been out of the country. That person then infected a second unvaccinated person soon afterwards, the agency said.
“This virus spreads quickly, which is why we must act now to prevent its spread,” said Dr. Linda Bell, the state’s epidemiologist and director of the Health Programs Branch. “It is proven that the best way to prevent measles is by vaccination.
“I strongly encourage everyone to review their immunization records to make sure they are up to date on all vaccinations and to talk with their health care provider about the benefits and risks of getting vaccinated.”
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