Health Highlights: Aug 19, 2015

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

Jimmy Carter to Provide More Details About Cancer Diagnosis

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will reveal more about his cancer diagnosis during a press conference Thursday morning.

Carter, 90, announced Aug. 12 that while he was undergoing liver surgery, doctors discovered cancer that has spread to different areas of his body. The brief written statement did not say what type of cancer or where it originated, the Associated Press reported.

Thursday’s press conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta will be closed to the public.

In the statement, Carter said he would undergo treatment at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. Carter’s father, brother and two sisters died of pancreatic cancer, and his mother also had the disease, the AP reported.

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Second Yosemite Visitor Diagnosed With Plague

A second plague case linked to California’s Yosemite National Park was announced Tuesday.

The patient was a visitor from Georgia who got tested after learning that two campgrounds in the park had been closed to spray pesticides to kill fleas that carry the infection, according to California officials, NBC News reported.

The spraying began after a Los Angeles girl was diagnosed with plague after visiting the park, and two dead squirrels were found to be infected.

“Although the presence of plague has been confirmed in wild rodents over the past two weeks at Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows campgrounds in Yosemite, the risk to human health remains low. Action to protect human and wildlife health by closing and treating campgrounds was taken out of an abundance of caution,” California’s health department said in a statement, NBC News reported.

Symptoms of plague can resemble the flu and included sudden fever, severe headache, nausea and chills. The infection can be deadly if patients do not receive prompt antibiotic treatment.

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Brain-Eating Amoeba Found in Another Louisiana Water System

The brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowerli was discovered in the water system of a Louisiana parish in early August, and the system is being treated with chlorine, state health officials say.

The amoeba was detected Aug. 5 in a fire hydrant in Pointe Aux Chenesa in Terrebonne Parish, CBS News reported.

A free chlorine burn will last for 60 days, according to the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals. Officials say the water is safe to drink, but residents are warned not to get the water in their nose, which is how the amoeba enters the body and travels to the brain.

This is the second time this summer that the amoeba was found in a Louisiana water system. Last month, it was detected in two of seven test sites in St. Bernard Parish, CBS News reported.

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