How measles outbreaks are impacting people across the U.S.

(InvestigateTV) — The CDC reported 4,852 measles cases in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Oct. 30, 2026, the most the country has seen since an outbreak that stretched from 1989 to 1991. According to the CDC, cases are at a 35-year high.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth and can cause serious health complications, including death.

Measles is most often associated with a rash and fever, according to the CDC. Health experts warn it can cause severe complications, particularly in babies and young children.

One out of every 1,000 cases will develop encephalitis, which often results in permanent brain damage, the CDC said.

Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine offer the strongest protection against measles, according to the CDC.

When more than 95% of a community is vaccinated, most people are protected through what’s known as herd immunity.

Families describe complications

Christine Castle said her sister Fonda is a ball of energy and often smiles and giggles. Fonda is 66 years old. Her room is filled with baby dolls and cartoons.

“She has a lot of love to give,” Castle said. “She basically just didn’t develop past a five or six year old.”

Castle said their mother was seven months pregnant with Fonda when she contracted rubella, a virus different from measles that causes similar symptoms. According to the CDC, a rubella infection during pregnancy can lead to serious illness and developmental delays for babies after birth.

“She can’t read or write. She can kind of memorize colors,” Castle said.

Fonda was born during the U.S. rubella epidemic. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, between 1965 and 1966, more than 11,000 pregnant women lost their babies and 20,000 were born with congenital rubella syndrome, including Fonda.

“They can basically look at the timeframe when my sister’s brain stopped developing,” Castle said.

Another family carries the effects of measles. Emmi Herman said her sister Marcie was a pianist.

“She was a wonderful piano player. My parents bought her a piano, which went wherever she went,” Herman said.

Herman said that in 1960, Marcie became ill with measles at age 9 and developed encephalitis. The CDC estimates this happens to 1 in every 1,000 children who contract measles.

“She had to learn to walk again; she had to learn to feed herself,” Herman said.

Herman said Marcie faced mental health challenges until her death in 2020 from COVID-19.

“You don’t know about the hardships and the heartaches and the way measles in particular can break up a family and really change the trajectory of that person’s life and also shape the future of the siblings’ and the parents’ lives,” Herman said.

Marcie contracted measles three years before a vaccine became available to the public, according to the World Health Organization. Herman was 6 years old at the time of Marcie’s diagnosis.

South Carolina outbreak timeline

Dr. George Haddad Jr. and Dr. Jennifer Grier are professors at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville. They studied medicine in the 1990s and early 2000s, when national measles cases were at their lowest in years.

“I never saw it in training, and I never saw it in practice... until now,” Haddad said.

“I didn’t really think about measles too much other than it’s sort of a disease you see in the textbooks,” Grier said.

According to the S.C. Department of Public Health:

• South Carolina’s first measles case was reported July 9, 2025.
• By Oct. 1, state health officials confirmed five new infections were related, meeting the criteria for an outbreak, defined as three or more linked cases.
• New cases peaked by mid-January 2026, and hundreds of people were in quarantine or isolation.
• State health officials declared the outbreak over April 26, 2026.

A total of 997 people contracted measles during the outbreak.

“Many of them, the majority being children, especially some young children who were sick,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, the department’s chief medical officer, who oversaw the state’s effort to fight measles.

Traxler said 15 of the 21 hospitalizations were children.

“As a parent myself I can imagine the anguish of the family, of the parents,” Traxler said.

No one died during the outbreak, which Traxler said came to an end largely due to an aggressive vaccination campaign.

“Everything from, you know, making new connections with faith-based, you know, entities, and non-profits,” Traxler said.

Partnerships produced mobile vaccine units, including one at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Spartanburg. Spartanburg saw a 94% year-over-year increase in MMR vaccinations.

Of the 997 cases in the outbreak, more than 93% (932) were unvaccinated.

Daughter’s reaction to the vaccine

For some South Carolinians, vaccine hesitation is rooted in personal experience.

“She was a completely healthy toddler,” Deidre Downs said of her daughter, Shaylee.

Downs said that a few weeks after Shaylee received the MMR vaccine in 2024, she developed immune thrombocytopenia purpura, also known as ITP. According to Johns Hopkins, ITP is a disorder that affects the ability to form blood clots.

“And within a 24-hour period, they went from small bruises to her whole body covered in bruises,” Downs said.

According to the CDC, ITP can happen after a natural measles infection and after the MMR vaccine. The agency says it occurs in 1 in every 40,000 vaccinated children.

“It doesn’t feel like a rare occurrence when it happens to your child,” Downs said.

Downs said Shaylee is now symptom-free. According to Johns Hopkins, ITP typically doesn’t return. Downs said that after her daughter’s reaction, she will never be too sure of the odds.

“As a whole when this hot topic comes up, I would just like there to be more understanding and compassion,” Downs said.

Castle said she wonders about her sister’s life had the MMR vaccine been available when their mother was infected.

“We don’t know who is going to be affected and who is not, but we definitely would not want a five-year-old for the rest of your life, it is very difficult,” Castle said.

Castle, Herman and Downs each shared a different experience. All three have one message for parents with questions about measles or the vaccine: speak with a trusted doctor.

“If that could save one life, it’s a legacy that, you know, many people can’t claim,” Herman said.