Washtenaw County continues to see a significant number of cases associated with the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting communities across Michigan. According to the Washtenaw County Health Department, as of July 16 at 3 p.m., 500 cases have been reported in Washtenaw County, with 25 hospitalizations. Statewide, as of July 20 there have been 6,148 reported cases and 102 hospitalizations.

Investigations by the CDC and FDA have tracked a potential source to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, both sold at retail locations and served at Taco Bell locations in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Taylor Farms are voluntarily recalling all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, which includes Marketside-brand product available at Walmart. See the full information on all Taylor Farms recalled products.

This investigation is ongoing and more information will provided by the CDC and FDA as it becomes available.

What Is Cyclosporiasis?

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. Symptoms typically develop several days to two weeks after exposure and may include:

• Frequent watery diarrhea
• Loss of appetite
• Stomach cramps and bloating
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Low-grade fever
• Weight loss

The illness can last for days or even weeks if left untreated.

What To Do If You Have Symptoms

If you are experiencing ongoing diarrhea or other symptoms of cyclosporiasis:

✅ Contact your healthcare provider. Packard Health is here to help. Contact Packard Health for evaluation and treatment recommendations: 734-971-1073

✅ Antibiotic treatment is effective. The recommended treatment is trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim).

✅ Rest and stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of fluids is important to prevent dehydration, especially if symptoms are severe.

Food Safety Recommendations

Because lettuce and salad greens remain a focus of the investigation, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recommends taking extra precautions when purchasing and preparing produce.

Support Local Farms

This outbreak is a reminder of the value of knowing where your food comes from. When possible, consider purchasing produce from local farmers markets and small farms. Local growers often offer greater transparency about growing practices and provide an opportunity to ask questions directly about how produce is grown, harvested, and handled.

Supporting local agriculture also helps strengthen our regional food system and the small businesses that help keep our communities healthy.

Up-To-Date Information

For more information about the outbreak visit the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website for the latest updates:

• Michigan Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Information
• MDHHS Press Release, July 13 (available in multiple languages)

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Produce season has arrived, and Packard Health is expanding its food pantry services with the return of our Fresh-a-Sprout Market! Opening this Tuesday morning, June 2, at Packard Health West, the market offers free, fresh produce to anyone in the community.

The Fresh-a-Sprout Market is a seasonal supplement to Packard Health’s existing food pantry, providing an additional resource for fresh fruits and vegetables during the growing season. The market runs weekly on Tuesday mornings and alternates locations between Packard Health West and Packard Health Main, making it accessible to a wide range of community members.

Learn more and see the full schedule of dates and locations!

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Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat, shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 teaspoons trans fat free margarine
• 4 slices (about 3 ounces) reduced-sodium, chopped deli ham
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 4 corn tortillas (heated)
• 4 teaspoons salsa
  

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, hot pepper sauce, black pepper, and cheese.
2. Heat the margarine in a medium non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the ham and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove the ham from the pan.
3. Add the onions and green peppers to the hot pan, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ham back to pan.
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the eggs to pan. Gently stir the eggs with a spoon or spatula and continue lightly cooking over low heat until the eggs are cooked and set.
5. Evenly divide the egg mixture into 4 servings. Spoon each portion of the egg mixture into a tortilla and top each with 1 tsp. salsa. Fold the tortilla to close.

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Join the demo here:
https://tinyurl.com/y43n4tm3 

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced (1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
• 2 carrots, diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef (90 percent lean)
• One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• One 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• One 15.5-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Directions
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

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Twenty years ago Jerry and Julie Walden listened to an articulate and compassionate woman speak at Life Lessons, an integrated cardiac wellness program at St. Joseph Mercy’s Michigan Heart and Vascular Institute. Dr. Jerry Walden, Packard Health founder, recruited her on the spot to join his small clinic.

This month, Karen Koeppe, Registered Dietitian, Nutritionist, and Certified Diabetes Educator, retired from Packard Health after 20 years of service.

To chat with Karen is to understand how countless patients have improved their lives working with her…and to appreciate what Jerry Walden saw so many years ago.

Here are 4 things we admire so much about Karen.  

Essential team player
When a patient comes to Packard, they join forces with a primary provider, maybe a mental health therapist or addiction specialist, and often a chronic disease manager, Karen. Everyone works closely together, communicating, coordinating, listening. It’s not idle talk when a patient exclaims, “That Karen, she’s awesome!” 

Empowering Educator
There could be a sign on Karen’s office door saying “knowledge is power”. That’s what you feel when you step inside. You have the power to understand your chronic disease – and you have the power to make choices. Karen helped patients live the life they chose. As she says, “I put the patient in the driver’s seat.” Knowledgeable, compassionate, motivating, and non-judging, she was the perfect person for the job.

Energetic Can Do-er
Working at Packard Health is a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-it-done endeavor. Karen was great at it. She’s helped Packard achieve and maintain a blue-ribbon certification of care – Blue Cross, Blue Shield Patient Centered Medical Home. She’s shared her knowledge in team presentations on Social Determinants of Health to UM medical students. Maybe you’ve seen her representing Packard at Ann Arbor’s annual CROP walk or at a table after your church service. She’s run down grants to fund home blood pressure monitors, and nutritional supplements for cancer patients. Packard Health Fair? Karen was there to help.

Strong Community Builder 
“What I love about Packard is that right from the beginning it was designed to create community,” says Karen. She was an early adopter and developer of Diabetes Group Medical Appointments, where patients share their experiences, learn from each other, and find hope. And here’s to the Packard Pacers! Karen created the summer walking group (2005-2018) that hiked the trails of County Farm Park, supported each other, adopted healthy habits. and found fun and friendship along the way. Watch video.  

In 2000 Karen joined Packard Community Clinic with Jerry and Julie Walden and 5 part-time providers. Today Packard Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center with comprehensive, team-based programming delivered at 3 office locations, at the medical clinic at the Delonis Center, and in partnership with Avalon Housing. As our longest serving employee, Karen can look way back, but she’s looking ahead and is excited about health and wellness services at Packard long into the future. 

Retirement? Karen will volunteer making phone calls urging people to vote, to have a voice (she’s doing that already!). She’s also looking forward to bringing her special brand of care giving to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. After all, as Jerry Walden said so long ago, “Karen has a passion for helping and healing.”

Congratulations to Karen, a real Packard Health Champion!

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Food insecurity has an adverse impact on health. A person without access to good food has a doubled risk of type 2 diabetes, and probably struggles with obesity and hypertension. Food insecurity, chronic disease, and poor health outcomes form a vicious cycle, with constant stress at the very center. This is the life of many of our patients.

Packard Health links low-income patients to healthy food. In this month of Hunger Action, I want to tell you about our efforts, the collaboration of compassionate staff and generous community partners.

• Patients at risk for food insecurity are assisted immediately at their office visit.
• Our 2 food pantries (Main & West) offer a wide selection of nutritious food.
• We help patients enroll in SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• Our Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator is a key member of our health care team, working with side-by-side with patients and providers.
• Generous Food Gatherers delivers food (including fresh produce) on a weekly basis and stocking of our pantries is done by a team of wonderful volunteers.
• Church of the Good Shepherd-UCC plants 9 raised beds and since 2009 we have received the veggie bounty. In winter we receive cases of fresh citrus.
• Ann Arbor CROP Hunger Walk has selected us over many years as a local recipient for donations. CROP Walk is coming up September 25. Come out!
• Via “Prescription for Health” of the Washtenaw County Health Dept., 60 low-income patients receive $100 in produce at the Ypsilanti Farmers Markets.
• Our food pantry clients receive Good and Cheap:  Eating Well on $4 a Day cookbook thanks to donors who organized a drive and raised the funds.

I’m proud that Packard is helping to fight food insecurity in our community, and very appreciative of all who join in that important work.

In good health,

Ray Rion, MD, Executive Director

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Add More Fruits and Veggies to Your Life

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Get the Low Down on High Blood Pressure   

The DASH diet has just “dashed off” with highest honors as US News 2015 Top-Rated Diet.

 

DASH – “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” – is an all star. It gets high marks for nutritional completeness, safety, ability to prevent or control diabetes, and its role in supporting heart health.

And of course, it’s proven to control and even prevent high blood pressure. High blood pressure is dangerous and it affects almost one in three Americans.

DO THE DASH

• 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, whole grains, unsalted nuts, legumes, 2-3 servings of low-fat and fat-free dairy products, and small servings of meat, fish and poultry
• High in a mineral mix (potassium, magnesium, calcium) and low in sodium that is associated with blood pressure lowering
• Get going and keep DASH-ing
  • Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure with DASH
    Complete details from National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

KAREN’S DASH TIPS & TREATS

Karen Koeppe, Packard Health Registered Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator shares the goods!

Practical Tips to Get in All the Fruits and Veggies

Berry-Banana Blast-Off Recipe

Put a rainbow on your plate at every meal!

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And it’s all good news…

The “Med” Diet reduces risk of stroke and heart attack, and Type 2 diabetes.

Celebrate the Med Diet!

1. For a healthy, tasty treat – It’s Greek to Me Dip recipe

2. Focus on fruits & vegetables (2+ cups veggies/day, and at least 1 fruit)

3. Load up on legumes and beans

4. Eat fish twice a week or more (baked, broiled, or grilled)

5. Emphasize Extra-Virgin Olive Oil -Drizzle & dip it, use in cooking (not baking).

6. Grab a handful of unsalted or lightly-salted nuts every day. Sprinkle in Greek yogurt, on salads, in brown rice/vegetable dishes, or as an afternoon snack. Don’t go nuts – a small handful will do!

It’s also a style of living … 

• Enjoy a walk after your meal – Lower blood sugar and speed digestion

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