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Georgia reports first 2026 measles case in infant
Health officials are sounding the alarm as a massive measles outbreak in South Carolina, totaling 558 cases, threatens to spill into Georgia. After reporting its first 2026 case in an unvaccinated infant, Georgia experts warn that the state's 90% vaccination rate falls short of the "herd immunity" needed to prevent a resurgence of a disease once considered eliminated.
ATLANTA - Georgia health officials are warning parents as measles cases soar in neighboring South Carolina.
Cases there doubled within the last week, leaving some doctors gravely concerned.
"I think we will see more deaths among kids, which is just tragic," said Dr. Giridhar Mallya, a public health physician with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
What we know:
The South Carolina health department reported 124 new cases since Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 558 in a wave of infections centered around an outbreak in Spartanburg County.
Since the holidays, South Carolina’s measles outbreak has exploded into the worst in the U.S. Measles have also been reported this year in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Virginia, and here in Georgia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Georgia’s Department of Public Health has reported the first measles case of 2026, involving a baby in the Savannah area who was too young for the vaccine.
The CDC says South Carolina is in the middle of an outbreak, and doctors fear the spread could get worse during a rise in vaccine skepticism.
"It’s one of the most effective ones we have out there and very, very safe," Mallya said.
The backstory:
Last year, officials tracked 10 measles cases statewide in Georgia.
After last year brought the highest number of measles cases since 1991, public health experts worry progress toward elimination could be lost amid rising vaccine skepticism.
"The vaccine’s been around since 1971. We have more than 50 years of data and experience," Candace DeMatteis, with the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease, said.
By the numbers:
Measles is highly contagious and spreads through coughs and sneezes. Two doses of the vaccine are up to 98 percent effective.
In 2023, Georgia reported around 90 percent of children had received the MMR vaccine, but the CDC and World Health Organization say coverage needs to be closer to 95 percent to protect against an outbreak.
"We are absolutely on the cusp of losing that measles elimination status that was hard fought and won and held on to for 25 years up until this year," DeMatteis said. "Seek that expertise not from social media, not from, you know, influencers or otherwise, but to reach out to people who know you, people in your community who like you, want to do the best for your children," DeMatteis said.
The Source: This article is based on original reporting by FOX 5’s Rob DiRienzo. Information was also provided by the Georgia Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. The Associated Press contributed to this report.