WINNIPEG • Former United States president Jimmy Carter became dehydrated on Thursday and was taken to a hospital in Canada, where he has been leading his annual Habitat for Humanity building project.

The Carter Center, a non-profit organisation founded by Mr Carter and his wife Rosalynn, said in a statement that he had gone to a hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, "as a precaution", adding that he was receiving "rehydration".

Mr Carter, 92, was discharged yesterday.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said Mr Carter collapsed after about an hour of work on Thursday, while cutting wood. It said an ambulance left the work site soon after.

"President Carter was dehydrated working in the hot sun," Habitat for Humanity International chief executive Jonathan Reckford said later.

Mr Carter was treated in 2015 for cancer in his liver and brain, which doctors detected when they removed a mass from his liver. Mr Carter acknowledged then that he briefly thought he had "a few weeks left", but he received treatment in Atlanta and recovered.

Although he has been out of elected office for 36 years, Mr Carter maintains a robust schedule and remains a prominent figure in American public life. He regularly teaches Sunday school at his church in Plains, Georgia, and is a faculty member at Emory University in Atlanta. He also travels often with the Carter Center.

He has a longstanding relationship with Habitat for Humanity, and this week's trip was the 34th time that the Carters have worked with the group since Mr Carter left office. According to Habitat for Humanity, the Carters have worked with more than 92,000 volunteers on nearly 4,000 homes worldwide.

NYTIMES, REUTERS