A child who attends a private Christian school in the North Hills has been infected with measles, the second confirmed case in Allegheny County.

Pennsylvania is facing the largest outbreak of measles in the country, with more than 2,000 cases and five deaths across the commonwealth. The first case of measles for an Allegheny County resident was identified last week, with possible exposures at a Target on McKnight Road in McCandless. The Allegheny County Health Department reported previously that case of measles did not include a school exposure.

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’s school to contain the spread. The department declined to  provide details about the second person who is infected, citing privacy. 

A spokesperson for Eden Christian Academy, which operates three North Hills campuses, acknowledged its student body was impacted. Eden Christian enrolls 658 students across  elementary schools in Ross and Pine, and a school for upper grades in Ohio Township. The spokesperson did not say which campus was impacted.

Health Department spokesperson Ronnie Das said staff have “been 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.”

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 school’s vaccination rate is 81%, which is in the bottom 10% of schools in Allegheny County. It’s lower than the 92-95% threshold required for herd immunity, and below the Health Department’s target of at least 95%. The school didn’t respond to a question about whether it is doing anything to try to increase its vaccination rates.

“The health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and families is our highest priority,” the school said in its statement.

In June, Public Source reported that private religious schools generally have the lowest measles vaccination rates in the county, 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.

“We are very concerned about the fact that there are these pockets” of students who are at risk, Allegheny County’s Medical Director Jillian Irwin said in May.

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.

“Anyone with measles needs to isolate from others during this time,” Das said. “Nonimmune household members must quarantine. Immune household members do not have to quarantine.”

Lisa Bruce was attending a conference about special needs children at a church that is physically connected to — though unaffiliated with — 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’t worried for her daughter. But she has two elderly parents in their 80s and doesn’t know if their old vaccinations will be as effective at their age. (The CDC’s website says people born before 1957 are presumed to be immune.)

“It worries me that people are not being vaccinated,” Bruce said. “Being vaccinated is a choice.”

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

Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.

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Second measles case confirmed in Allegheny County

by Oliver Morrison and Lajja Mistry, Pittsburgh's Public Source
October 8, 2026

<h1>Second measles case confirmed in Allegheny County</h1> <p class="byline">by Oliver Morrison and Lajja Mistry, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />October 8, 2026</p> <p>A child who attends a private Christian school in the North Hills has been infected with measles, the second confirmed case in Allegheny County.</p> <p>Pennsylvania is facing the largest outbreak of measles in the country, with more than 2,000 cases and five deaths across the commonwealth. The first case of measles for an Allegheny County resident was identified last week, with possible exposures at a Target on McKnight Road in McCandless. The Allegheny County Health Department <a href="https://www.alleghenycounty.us/News-Articles/Allegheny-County-Press-Releases/October-2026/10-5-26-ALERT-First-Confirmed-Measles-Case">reported previously that case of measles did not include a school exposure</a>.</p> <p>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’s school to contain the spread. The department declined to&nbsp; provide details about the second person who is infected, citing privacy.&nbsp;</p> <p>A spokesperson for Eden Christian Academy, which operates three North Hills campuses, acknowledged its student body was impacted. Eden Christian enrolls 658 students across&nbsp; 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> <p>Health Department spokesperson Ronnie Das said staff have “been 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.”</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 school’s vaccination rate is 81%, which is in the bottom 10% of schools in Allegheny County. It’s lower than the 92-95% threshold required for herd immunity, and below the Health Department’s target of at least 95%. The school didn’t respond to a question about whether it is doing anything to try to increase its vaccination rates.</p> <p>“The health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and families is our highest priority,” the school said in its statement.</p> <p>In June, <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-uneven-school-vaccinations-rates/">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> <p>“We are very concerned about the fact that there are these pockets” of students who are at risk, Allegheny County’s Medical Director Jillian Irwin said in May.</p> <p>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> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/DSC04056.jpg" alt="The exterior of an office building with the Wexford logo, partially obscured by trees behind a fenced-in basketball court with an American flag flying on a pole." class="wp-image-1338867" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">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)</figcaption></figure> <p>“Anyone with measles needs to isolate from others during this time,” Das said. “Nonimmune household members must quarantine. Immune household members do not have to quarantine.”</p> <p>Lisa Bruce was attending a conference about special needs children at a church that is physically connected to — though unaffiliated with — 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’t worried for her daughter. But she has two elderly parents in their 80s and doesn’t know if their old vaccinations will be as effective at their age. (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/resources/measles-older-adults.html">The CDC’s website</a> says people born before 1957 are presumed to be immune.)</p> <p>“It worries me that people are not being vaccinated,” Bruce said. “Being vaccinated is a choice.”</p> <p><em>Oliver Morrison is the health and environment reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at</em> <a href="mailto:oliver@publicsource.org"><em>oliver@publicsource.org</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p><em>Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at</em> <em><a href="mailto:lajja@publicsource.org">lajja@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-second-measles-case-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=1338864&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-second-measles-case-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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