News

On December 13, the eighth medical marijuana dispensary in North Dakota is expected to open in Dickinson.

In an Administrative Rules Committee meeting today, legislators approved rules for cottage food products. The rules do not add additional regulation but clarify what is currently written into state law under the North Dakota Cottage Food Act. The clarifying language will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020. More information can be found on the NDDoH website at health.nd.gov/cottage-food.

As part of National Influenza Vaccination Week, December 1-7, 2019, the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) is reminding all North Dakotans to get their flu vaccine before the holidays.

In observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) is urging all North Dakotans to know their HIV status.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested at least once as part of routine health care.  Currently, one in seven individuals infected with HIV are unaware of their infection.  

North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) encourages residents to take precautions to prevent foodborne illness, commonly known as food poisoning. Each year, one in six people in the United States will get sick from eating contaminated food, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Safe handling, preparation, and storage of food can help prevent foodborne illness due to contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and toxins.

The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) is advising patients and their families to use antibiotics only when necessary to further reduce antibiotic resistance, the spread of superbugs, and protect patients from side effects from antibiotics. During Antibiotic Awareness Week, November 18-22, the NDDoH promotes Be Antibiotics Aware, an educational effort to raise awareness about the importance of safe antibiotic use.

The State Health Council, the advisory body of the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH), will hold a meeting Wednesday, November 13, 2019, in Conference Room 212 located in the Judicial Wing of the North Dakota Capitol Building in Bismarck at 8:00 a.m. If special accommodations are needed for the meeting, please call the NDDoH at 701-328-2408.

November 3 is One Health Day, a global day of action to promote awareness of the relationship among the health of people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. The North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA), North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGF), North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ), and North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) are encouraging the public to recognize the link between the environment and the health of humans and animals.

In a special meeting today, the State Health Council approved proposed rules for cottage food products. The rules do not add additional regulation but clarify what is currently written into state law under the North Dakota Cottage Foods Act. The approved rules will be submitted to the Legislative Council and placed on the agenda for the Administrative Rules Committee meeting in December.   

The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) has received reports showing multiple clusters of people with syphilis across the state, most recently in Stark and Cass Counties. The increase in reports included infections among pregnant women, which increases the risk for syphilis among newborn infants, a condition called congenital syphilis that could result in malformations or stillbirth.