Health Highlights: Aug 13, 2015

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Pork Linked to Salmonella Outbreak in Washington State

A salmonella outbreak linked to pork products has sickened 134 people in Washington state, health officials say.

The state health department and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the outbreak, and initial tests show a connection to a slaughter facility in Graham, Washington, the Associated Press reported.

Many of the patients became ill after eating whole roasted pigs served at restaurants and private events, according to health officials. Salmonella bacteria can cause fever, abdominal discomfort and vomiting.

People are being advised to cook pork thoroughly, the AP reported.

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N.C. Glaxo Plant Closed After Discovery of Legionella Bacteria

A GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina was closed after the discovery of bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, but the company says drugs made at the plant are safe.

The plant in Zebulon, about 25 miles east of Raleigh, was closed Tuesday after routine testing found legionella bacteria in two external cooling towers, The New York Times reported.

Glaxo said it plans to reopen the plant, which makes inhaled medications, in a few days.

“No employees are sick, and no products have been compromised,” company spokeswoman Jenni Brewer Ligday wrote in an email, The Times reported. “Medicines were not exposed to the bacteria,” Ligday wrote.

No cases of Legionnaires’ disease linked to the Glaxo plant have been reported, state health officials said Wednesday.

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