The Allegheny County Health Department reported today that both children with confirmed measles cases in Allegheny County attended the same school. The department had previously said they believed there had not been any school exposure related to the county’s first reported case.

“This connection significantly expands our investigation,” said Dr. Jillian Irwin, Allegheny County Health Department medical director, in a press release. “Determining how these individuals were infected and the details of all additional exposures is key to successfully stopping further spread.”

A Public Source investigation Thursday revealed that one of the students who was infected was enrolled at Eden Christian Academy, a private religious school based in the North Hills. Eden Christian Academy collectively has an 81% vaccination rate, with rates between 80% and 82% at three campuses it operates throughout the North Hills. All campuses are among the lowest 10% of vaccination rates in the county. Between the three campuses there are more than 125 unvaccinated children in total, with more than 60 unvaccinated students at its largest campus.

Over the summer, Public Source reported that vaccination rates at private religious schools has been declining, particularly in the youngest grades.

Eden Christian Academy released a statement to Public Source about the school’s response on Thursday, saying the school could not release any identifying information due to privacy laws. “We are working directly with the Health Department to implement their protocol,” the official said. “Families and staff have received notification with instructions from public health authorities.”

The connection between the two known cases means the Health Department is planning to call and text additional people who were exposed to the individuals who were infected.

In its press release last week the department said there might have been public exposures at a Target on McKnight Road. “There were no school-related exposures,” the press release said at the time.

The department’s statement Friday indicates that evidence “suggests there was likely a previously unknown exposure at the school.”

A spokesperson said the Health Department hasn’t yet fully identified the source of the school contamination. “Our first case was not in school when they were infectious, therefore did not expose other students at the school,” said Ronnie Das, the department spokesperson. “There is no indication that our first case infected the second, or vice versa. Both became ill around the same time. We continue to investigate this situation to identify the source of illness for both cases.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information received after initial publication.

Oliver Morrison is the health and environment reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at oliver@publicsource.org.

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Health Department: Both children with measles attended same school

by Oliver Morrison, Pittsburgh's Public Source
October 9, 2026

<h1>Health Department: Both children with measles attended same school</h1> <p class="byline">by Oliver Morrison, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />October 9, 2026</p> <p>The Allegheny County Health Department reported today that both children with confirmed measles cases in Allegheny County attended the same school. The department had previously <a href="https://www.alleghenycounty.us/News-Articles/Allegheny-County-Press-Releases/October-2026/10-5-26-ALERT-First-Confirmed-Measles-Case">said they believed there had not been any school exposure related to the county's first reported case</a>.</p> <p>“This connection significantly expands our investigation,” said Dr. Jillian Irwin, Allegheny County Health Department medical director, in a press release. “Determining how these individuals were infected and the details of all additional exposures is key to successfully stopping further spread.”</p> <p>A <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-second-measles-case-school/">Public Source investigation Thursday</a> revealed that one of the students who was infected was enrolled at Eden Christian Academy, a private religious school based in the North Hills. Eden Christian Academy collectively has an 81% vaccination rate, with rates between 80% and 82% at three campuses it operates throughout the North Hills. All campuses are among the lowest 10% of vaccination rates in the county. Between the three campuses there are more than 125 unvaccinated children in total, with more than 60 unvaccinated students at its largest campus.</p> <p>Over the summer, <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-uneven-school-vaccinations-rates/">Public Source reported that vaccination rates at private religious schools has been declining,</a> particularly in the youngest grades.</p> <p>Eden Christian Academy released a statement to Public Source about the school’s response on Thursday, saying the school could not release any identifying information due to privacy laws. “We are working directly with the Health Department to implement their protocol,” the official said. “Families and staff have received notification with instructions from public health authorities.”</p> <p>The connection between the two known cases means the Health Department is planning to call and text additional people who were exposed to the individuals who were infected.</p> <p>In its press release last week the department said there might have been public exposures at a Target on McKnight Road. “There were no school-related exposures,” the press release said at the time.</p> <p>The department’s statement Friday indicates that evidence "suggests there was likely a previously unknown exposure at the school."</p> <p>A spokesperson said the Health Department hasn’t yet fully identified the source of the school contamination. “Our first case was not in school when they were infectious, therefore did not expose other students at the school,” said Ronnie Das, the department spokesperson. “There is no indication that our first case infected the second, or vice versa. Both became ill around the same time. We continue to investigate this situation to identify the source of illness for both cases.”</p> <p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with information received after initial publication.</em></p> <p><em>Oliver Morrison is the health and environment reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at</em> <em><a href="mailto:oliver@publicsource.org">oliver@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-measles-cases-same-school/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1338892&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-measles-cases-same-school/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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