Press Releases
Year
Illinois Department of Public Health Warns of Buffalo Fish Causing Illness
Pat Quinn, Governor
LaMar Hasbrouck, MD, MP}-L Director
525-535 West Jefferson Street Springfield , Illinois 62761 -0001
www.idph.state.il.us
Consumer Advisory
Illinois Department of Public Health Warns of Buffalo Fish Causing Illness
Rare disease suspected in 690 people
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Deparånent of Public Health (IDPH) is advising people who eat buffalo fish of the potential to contract a rare disease called Haff disease. Health officials in Chicago and Cook County have reported two people who consumed the fish having been seen at the hospital as suspect cases of Haff disease.
Haff disease is a swelling and breakdown of skeletal muscle thought to be caused by a toxin sometimes found in buffalo fish in the Mississippi River. Symptoms of Haff disease generally begin within 6 to 21 hours after eating fish and commonly include severe muscle pain, stiffress and brown (darkened) urine. Acute kidney failure may also be a complication. Symptoms typically resolve within 2 to 3 days and cases are rarely fatal.
"Haffdisease is very rare, with the last case in Illinois reported in 2004," said IDPH Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. "While cooking food to the proper temperature will kill bacteria, cooking will not eliminate this toxin and the fish will still be unsafe to eat."
If you think you may have Haff disease, report your symptoms and what fish you ate to your health care provider right away. If possible, save meal remnants. If you have eaten the fish, but are not feeling ill, watch for symptoms.
Date issued: February 6, 2014
Parkland College and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Kick Off Worksite Wellness Challenge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2014
Contact
Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 /
Parkland College and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Kick Off Worksite Wellness Challenge
Employees will be challenged to eat better, be more physically active and reduce stress
Champaign, IL – On Thursday, January 30th at noon, Parkland College and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) will kick-off a worksite wellness challenge for Parkland employees. The four-month wellness challenge is called the Amazing Challenge, and the challenge itself begins on February 1st. Thursday’s kick-off event will be held at Parkland’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, located at 2400 W. Bradley Avenue, D116, in Champaign.
The Amazing Challenge will be organized through a web portal called We Choose Health 365, created by the Illinois Department of Public Health and Live Healthy America. A number of employers in Champaign County and state-wide will participate in the challenge, which will provide health challenges for employees on nutrition, physical activity and stress reduction. It will be a simple, fun and interactive campaign that encourages focused weekly action – making it easy for participants to make changes and see results. The wellness website allows employees to create personalized dashboards to track their individual wellness goals, nutrition intake and physical activity, and provides wellness resources such as fitness videos and healthy recipes.
“We are so pleased to have this opportunity to work with Public Health to promote wellness on the Parkland campus and hope that we might be able to develop something similar for the students,” said June Burch, Parkland Wellness Coordinator.
Tara McCauley, CUPHD Special Projects Coordinator, said “CUPHD is excited to offer this intensive, yet easy and low-cost wellness program to Champaign County employers. And we are fortunate that our grant funding allows us to pay the registration costs for most Champaign County employers to participate in the challenge.”
Other area employers participating in the Amazing Challenge include: Carrie Busey Elementary School, Champaign County, Unity West Elementary School, CUPHD and Frasca International. Champaign County employers can still register for the Amazing Challenge by contacting Tara McCauley at CUPHD (contact info above).
The Amazing Challenge is part of the Illinois Department of Public Health’s We Choose Health Initiative, which is made possible by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more information:
http://www.c-uphd.org/wechoosehealth/workplace-wellness.html
http://www.wechoosehealth365.com/aspx/Public/Page.aspx?pid=14708
###
Health Departments Kick Off Rethink Your Drink 2014 by Reminding Illinoisans to Limit Sugary Beverages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2014
Contact
Elissa Bassler, Illinois Public Health Institute
(312) 850-4744
Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 /
Health Departments Kick Off Rethink Your Drink 2014 by Reminding Illinoisans to Limit Sugary Beverages
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Lead by Example
Champaign, IL – As part of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity’s (IAPO) month-long Rethink Your Drink campaign, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) will be sharing, posting and tweeting helpful information about rethinking beverage choices. CUPHD will also be active participants by challenging staff to consume only milk and water for one day.
“I’m a little worried about my morning coffee but it’s just one day so I’m ready to give it a try,” said Tara McCauley, CUPHD employee.
“We see staff walk around with Polar Pops all day. Even if they have water in those cups, what message are we sending clients,” said Dr. Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator at CUPHD. “The students at Unity West led an event like this last month. If the students can do it, we can do it.”
Health departments across the state are holding educational events to help Illinoisans make healthy beverage choices. “As providers of a diverse array of essential services for residents, health departments are uniquely positioned to lead in educating Illinoisans on one of the easiest changes a person can make to move toward improved health,” says Beth Fiorini, President-Elect of the Illinois Association for Public Health Administrators and Whiteside County Public Health Administrator.
CUPHD is encouraging people to choose Go beverages such as low-fat milk and water and saving Whoa drinks that are high in sugar or calories for special occasions and celebrations. Just one sugar sweetened beverage per day increases an adult’s risk of becoming overweight by 27 percent. Drinking one to two sugary drinks per day increases your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes by 26 percent. Health Departments around Illinois are doing what they can to get this information out and encourage the community to rethink drink choices.
“Not only are these entities an important point of contact for a diverse array of Illinoisans, but they have been the front line in creating food and beverage environments that ensure that healthy food and beverage options are the routine, easy choice,” said Elissa Bassler, CEO of the Illinois Public Health Institute, the administrative agency for IAPO.
Other health departments participating in Rethink Your Drink month include Kane County Health Department, DuPage County Health Department, Jackson County Health Department and Whiteside Health Department.
The Rethink Your Drink campaign is an initiative of IAPO, a diverse coalition made up of more than 140 organizations across the state, which has focused on raising awareness of the health harms of sugary beverages since 2010.
Rethink Your Drink events will continue in key sectors throughout the month, with subsequent weeks highlighting activities in hospitals and healthcare institutions, schools/universities and daycare centers:
Health Departments/Local Government Education Week:
Monday, 1/20-Friday, 1/24
After-School Programs/Non-Profits Education Week:
Monday, 1/27-Friday, 1/31
School/ University Education Week:
Monday, 2/3-Friday, 2/7
Worksite/ Hospital/ Healthcare Education Week:
Monday, 2/10-Friday, 2/14
To learn more about the Rethink Your Drink campaign, visit IAPO’s website at www.preventobesityil.org and ‘Like’ IAPO’s Facebook Page for event updates. To learn more facts about sugary drinks, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/.
Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity: www.preventobesityil.org
The primary goal of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity is to ensure that trends in obesity in Illinois are stable by 2015 and moving downward by 2018.The statewide coalition of over 140 organizations works to implement solutions to the obesity epidemic through coordinated and comprehensive policy, systems, and environmental changes.
*This message was funded in part by a grant from Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Heart Association
For additional information, contact Nikki Hillier at (217) 531-2914.
###