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• Posted October 14, 2025

Hundreds of Kids Forced Into Quarantine As Measles Outbreaks Spread

Health officials in several states are battling new measles outbreaks that have forced hundreds of unvaccinated students into quarantine.

In northwestern South Carolina, 153 unvaccinated children are under a 21-day quarantine after exposure to the virus in Greenville and Spartanburg counties, according to state health officials. 

In Minnesota, another 118 students in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are quarantining after being exposed to a separate outbreak.

The quarantines mean three weeks of remote learning as families monitor for symptoms such as fever, rash, cough and red, watery eyes.

“Communities are having to bear the price of quarantining so many children,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told NBC News.

The South Carolina Department of Public Health said one new case in Greenville County had no known connection to the seven cases in neighboring Spartanburg County.

“What this new case tells us is that there is active, unrecognized community transmission of measles occurring,” Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist, told NBC News.

Two schools — one elementary and one K–12 charter school — have reported cases, she said. Unvaccinated students who were exposed must remain out of school for three weeks, the time it can take for symptoms to appear.

“Those measures will help us be effective in preventing the spread of measles virus in those schools and in our communities,” Bell added.

Vaccination rates in the affected South Carolina counties remain below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity, according to NBC News. 

Rates for the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine are 90% in Spartanburg County and 90.5% in Greenville County.

In Minnesota, officials have confirmed 20 cases so far this year, while Utah and Arizona are managing a multi-state outbreak with more than 100 infections near their shared border. Utah has reported 14 additional cases in other regions.

Local school leaders have warned families about the risks but have left the decision to stay home up to parents.

Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 1,563 measles cases in 2025 as of Oct. 7, with most linked to domestic spread, not travel. 

The United States had eliminated measles in 2000, but falling vaccination rates have allowed the virus to resurface.

Further, an NBC News analysis found that childhood vaccination rates have declined in more than three-quarters of U.S. counties since 2019, and 67% of states lack enough coverage for herd immunity.

If current outbreaks continue through January, the country could lose its measles elimination status, federal officials warn.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on measles.

SOURCE: NBC News, Oct. 10, 2025