A popular campground at Yosemite National Park in California will be temporarily closed after several dead squirrels were found to be carrying the plague, officials said.

The move comes about a week after a girl who visited the park tested positive for the plague. She was treated and has recovered.

"As an extremely precautionary public health measure, flea treatment will be applied to rodent burrows in Tuolumne Meadows Campground because several dead animals were tested and found to be carrying plague," park officials said in a statement.

The campground will be closed from August 17-21. The park itself will remain open, including all the other campgrounds.

Plague is carried by squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents and their fleas.

"By eliminating the fleas, we reduce the risk of human exposure and break the cycle of plague in rodents at the sites," said Karen Smith, the director and state health officer for the California Department of Public Health.

Published: 15 August 2015

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People who eat lots of fried food and sugary drinks have a 56 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to those who eat healthier, according to US researchers.

The findings in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, were based on a six-year study of more than 17,000 people in the United States.

Researchers found that people who regularly ate what was described as a Southern style diet -- fried foods, eggs, processed meats like bacon and ham, and sugary drinks -- faced the highest risk of a heart attack or heart-related death during the next six years.

"Regardless of your gender, race, or where you live, if you frequently eat a Southern-style diet you should be aware of your risk of heart disease and try to make some gradual changes to your diet," said lead researcher James Shikany, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Division of Preventive Medicine.

"Try cutting down the number of times you eat fried foods or processed meats from every day to three days a week as a start, and try substituting baked or grilled chicken or vegetable-based foods."

Published: 11 August 2015

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