Lab results confirm the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in a two-year-old girl that died this weekend and the presence of the bacteria in a close contact of the child.
Northeast Regional Health Office Medical Director Dr. David Kirschke also confirms a similar severe strain in Northeast Tennessee.
"We have one case of the severe type in Tennessee," Dr. Kirschke said. "It may be similar to what the two kids from Virginia had."
According to a Washington County, TN Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Report, the two year-old was brought to the medical center Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with bloody diarrhea after she was "believed to be exposed to E. coli from a contaminated pool."