Public Health - Muskegon County

We have been experiencing an increase in reports of gastrointestinal illness (GI), some of which have been confirmed as caused by Norovirus. Learn more by reading the fact sheet and cleaning and disinfection guide.

Public Health - Muskegon County was recently awarded accredited status! The accreditation process assures and enhances the quality of local public health in Michigan by identifying and promoting the implementation of public health standards for local public health departments, and evaluating and accrediting local health departments on their ability to meet these standards.

Take a look at our results report, letter of congratulations, certificates of achievement, presentation notes delivered to the Board of Commissioners by Mark Miller, Director of Local Public Health Services for the MIchigan Department of Community Health. Learn more about local public health accreditation at www.accreditation.localhealth.net.

Each year, as part of the No Cigs for Our Kids Campaign, local tobacco retailers are checked for compliance with the Youth Tobacco Act which prohibits the selling, giving or furnishing of tobacco products to minors. With the help of youth decoys, the public health department and law enforcement have completed the checks for Fiscal Year 2012 and found that 86% of the Muskegon County retailers visited were in compliance with the law. For more details, read our news release and check out the list of retailers who passed.

As of October 1, 2012, Public Health no longer sells dog licenses or handles dog-related complaints. Licensing is now processed through the Muskegon County Treasurer's Office (724-6261) while Animal Control Officers can be reached through the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department (724-6007). Public Health continues to investigate potential rabies exposures. To report an animal bite, please call us at 724-1288.

If you'd like to know how this flu season is going, check out our flu graphs. Remember, the best way to protect yourself and others from the flu is to wash your hands frequently, cover your cough (and your sneeze) and get your flu shot.

Congratulations to Justice clothing store in the Lakes Mall for being awarded the 2012 Breastfeeding Friendly Business Award by the Muskegon County Breastfeeding Coalition. If you're a business owner who'd like to show your support, fill out an application/nomination form and we'll mail you a window cling.

Michigan’s updated Food Law becomes effective on October 1, 2012. The law adopts a modified 2009 FDA Model Food Code, portions of the 2009 FDA Model Shellfish Code and various federal food processing codes and egg safety documents to provide national consistency for the food industry and assure our food safety laws are based on the best current science. For more information, go to michigan.gov/foodsafety.

Michigan workplaces, including bars and restaurants, went smoke free on May 1, 2010. If you witness a smoke free air violation (patron smoking and business doing nothing to stop it), please report it to our office so we can investigate. Click here for a complaint form.

You can check on how your favorite restaurants are doing with their inspections by visiting our inspection results page. Every licensed restaurant is inspected at least twice a year. Those with ongoing issues are listed in our enforcement actions report which is updated monthly. For grocery store and other retailer inspection results, visit https://secure1.state.mi.us/misafe/Default.aspx.

For information on food recalls, please visit foodsafety.gov. For product recalls, visit cpsc.gov.

Help us improve our service. If you've been to the public health department lately, please let us know about your experience. Visit surveymonkey.com/s/phmc and complete our customer satisfaction survey.