Health Highlights: July 7, 2014

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

U.S. Citizen Being Tested for Ebola in Ghana

An American citizen is being tested for the Ebola virus in Ghana and is under quarantine at a private clinic in the capital city of Accra, according to health officials.

The man is believed to have visited Guinea and Sierra Leone in recent weeks. Those countries, along with Liberia, have been dealing with an Ebola outbreak for months. There have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in Ghana, BBC News reported.

The U.S. embassy in Accra confirmed that it had been told that a U.S. citizen was being tested for Ebola, but did not provide any more information. Staff at the clinic where the man is staying have also been quarantined and provided with protective clothing, Ghana’s health ministry said.

The Ebola outbreak began in Guinea in February and spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. So far, more than 460 people have died in the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak to date, BBC News reported.

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Kids With Same-Sex Parents Score High in Health, Happiness: Study

Children of same-sex parents are healthier and happier than children in the general population, a new study says.

Researchers surveyed 500 children of same-sex parents in Australia. About 80 percent of the youngsters had female parents and about 18 percent had male parents, the Washington Post reported.

The children with same-sex parents scored about six percent higher in areas such as general health and family unity, according to the University of Melbourne researchers.

“It’s often suggested that children with same-sex parents have poorer outcomes because they’re missing a parent of a particular sex. But research my colleagues and I published in the journal BMC Public Health shows this isn’t the case,” lead researcher Simon Crouch wrote on the Conversation, the Post reported.

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Foster Farms Recalls Chicken Products

Following an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella that has sickened more than 500 people in the past 16 months, a California-based chicken producer has issued its first recall since federal health officials connected the outbreak to chicken products sold by the company.

The recall involves 170 different chicken products, including drumsticks, thighs, chicken tenders and livers, produced at the Fresno facility of Foster Farms in March, the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture reported Thursday. The amount of chicken products involved is undetermined.

The company took the action after federal health officials reported a case of Salmonella Heidelberg infection on June 23 matched the strain that has been found in Foster Farms products.

All of the products involved were shipped to California, Hawaii, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Alaska.

Some of the recalled chicken products bear the labels FoodMaxx, Kroger, Safeway, Savemart, Valbest and Sunland, although most are labeled with the Foster Farms logo. No fresh products currently in grocery stores are involved, the company said.

Since the outbreak began in 2013, 574 people from 27 states and Puerto Rico have been sickened, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last October, the USDA sent a letter to Foster Farms that documented numerous instances of poor sanitation practices at the company’s plant, including finding “fecal material on carcasses.”

In May, Foster Farms said that it had started tighter screening of birds, improved safety on the farms where the birds are raised and improved sanitary conditions in its plants.

For more on the outbreak and a full list of recalled products, go to the USDA.

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