A spokesperson for the department confirmed there has been a second reported case of measles and that the agency is working with officials at the student\u2019s school to contain the spread. The department declined to\u00a0 provide details about the second person who is infected, citing privacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Eden Christian Academy, which operates three North Hills campuses, acknowledged its student body was impacted. Eden Christian enrolls 658 students across\u00a0 elementary schools in Ross and Pine, and a school for upper grades in Ohio Township. The spokesperson did not say which campus was impacted.<\/p>\n
Health Department spokesperson Ronnie Das said staff have \u201cbeen providing specific guidance to the school nurse and administration of an impacted school on how to organize lists of immune staff and students and ensuring school staff understands who needs to quarantine and for how long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eden Christian Academy released a statement to Public Source about the school\u2019s response on Thursday, saying the school could not release any identifying information due to privacy laws. \u201cWe are working directly with the Health Department to implement their protocol,\u201d the official said. \u201cFamilies and staff have received notification with instructions from public health authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The school\u2019s vaccination rate is 81%, which is in the bottom 10% of schools in Allegheny County. It\u2019s lower than the 92-95% threshold required for herd immunity, and below the Health Department\u2019s target of at least 95%. The school didn\u2019t respond to a question about whether it is doing anything to try to increase its vaccination rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and families is our highest priority,\u201d the school said in its statement.<\/p>\n
In June, Public Source reported that private religious schools generally have the lowest measles vaccination rates in the county<\/a>, with children in the youngest grades showing the lowest rates. At the time health experts in the county said they did not know of any specific efforts to try to improve vaccination rates at parochial schools.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are very concerned about the fact that there are these pockets\u201d of students who are at risk, Allegheny County\u2019s Medical Director Jillian Irwin said in May.<\/p>\n The Health Department said in a statement today that it works with school officials to review attendance records and see which students might have been exposed because infected individuals can spread the disease for four days before and after symptoms appear. The department recommends quarantines for students and family members who have been exposed to measles and have not been vaccinated or previously infected. The department recommends isolation for students with confirmed cases.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone with measles needs to isolate from others during this time,\u201d Das said. \u201cNonimmune household members must quarantine. Immune household members do not have to quarantine.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisa Bruce was attending a conference about special needs children at a church that is physically connected to \u2014 though unaffiliated with \u2014 the Eden Christian Academy building in Pine on Thursday. She has an 18-year-old in college about an hour from Pittsburgh, she said, so she isn\u2019t worried for her daughter. But she has two elderly parents in their 80s and doesn\u2019t know if their old vaccinations will be as effective at their age. (The CDC\u2019s website<\/a> says people born before 1957 are presumed to be immune.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt worries me that people are not being vaccinated,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cBeing vaccinated is a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Correction: The original version of this story indicated an incorrect number of statewide measles cases.<\/p>\n Oliver Morrison is the health and environment reporter at Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source and can be reached at oliver@publicsource.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC04056.jpg\")
An American flag waves above a basketball court at the back of Eden Christian Academy’s Wexford Elementary Campus on Oct. 8. (Photo by Oliver Morrison\/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)<\/p>\n