A school with alarmingly low vaccination rates was the scene of a pertussis (also known as whooping cough) outbreak. There have been two confirmed cases of pertussis in a sixth-grade classroom at Yuba River Charter School, according to the weekly memo issued by Nevada County Executive Officer Rick Haffey. The Nevada County Public Health Department is currently investigating this outbreak. “I wouldn’t say that low vaccination rates are responsible for the outbreak, but it could be responsible for the spread of the disease,” said Tex Ritter, interim director of public health. “The disease is highly infectious. If an unvaccinated person …