One New Hampshire resident has died and two others were sickened, apparently after eating ground beef contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the state Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday.

Health officials are not releasing any personal information about the victims of the illness or precisely when they became ill, citing confidentiality concerns. But they say two individuals have recovered, and one person died from complications of the illness.

As the federal government announced a recall of more than a half-million pounds of ground beef yesterday by a New York company, health experts here are urging New Hampshire consumers to carefully check any ground beef they may have in their freezer to make sure it's not part of the potentially contaminated product.

Fairbank Farms of Ashville, N.Y., is voluntarily recalling 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef products packaged last month that may have been contaminated with the potentially deadly bacteria.

Among the stores that carried the beef are Shaw's, BJ's, Price Chopper and Trader Joe's. A complete list of recalled products, and photos of product labels, are on usda.gov, and on fairbankfarms.com.

Chris Adamski, chief of disease control for the state's Department of Health and Human Services, said the department has been working for several weeks with the Centers for Disease Control on E. coli cases reported here and in several other New England states. When the investigation into the possible source of the illnesses pointed to the ground beef, she said, the department decided to notify the public about the potential contamination.

"We do know there are three cases we believe are associated with this contaminated product, and because there are a number of stores potentially affected ... we thought it was important to get this information out," Adamski said.

►Fairbank Farms' statement (link fixed)
►USDA: The entire list of recalled products

Symptoms of E. coli illness include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Most people recover within 10 days, but a small percentage of patients become extremely ill. Some develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is characterized by the destruction of red blood cells and kidney failure and can be fatal, according to DHHS.

Adamski said it's possible that some of the ground beef has already been consumed without causing any illness, since proper cooking can kill E. coli bacteria. But she said it's possible that some New Hampshire consumers have contaminated meat in their freezers, so it's important to check.

"If you saw this recall and said, 'I never buy ground beef,' there's no reason to look, but if it's a product you typically or routinely buy, I think it's worth it," she said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services has been investigating a "cluster" of E. coli illnesses, working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health and agriculture departments, according to an agency news release.

The meat in question bears the mark "EST. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection or on the nutritional label. The meat was produced between Sept. 14 and 16, and may have been labeled at the retail stores with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28.

Adamski said the ongoing federal investigation will try to determine what caused the contamination at the source.

Agnes Schafer, media coordinator for Fairbank Farms, said the company has no information about a link between its recall and the New Hampshire illnesses. She said the company's voluntary recall is for a specific line of fresh ground beef products sold in eight states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

But Adamski last night said the state health department has more updated information that raised the concern here. "We feel comfortable our cases are associated, just based on preliminary investigations," she said.

Adamski said residents who have concerns about the recall can call the health department at 271-4496 during business hours. Schafer said consumers can call Fairbank Farms' toll-free hotline at (877) 546-0122, which will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., including today.