Maine public health authorities confirmed Friday that one child died and another was hospitalized after both attended a county fair and then showed symptoms of E. coli infection.
Authorities also said they are expanding their investigation into the two cases. The children from Androscoggin County likely acquired their illnesses from the same source, state epidemiologist Siiri Bennett said.
Bennett said both children attended the Oxford County Fair last month, but the state is also searching for other common factors in the cases. She said it will take a week to complete testing of samples from the fair.
The state's Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory identified the strain of E. coli in the two cases to be identical in both patients, Bennett said. One of the children died this week and the other is in fair condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland
Officials would not release details about the victims.
