COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – State health officials now say at least nine cases of the same strain of E. coli have been confirmed in Missouri.

Health officials point to raw milk as a possible cause in at least four of the cases, including a 2-year-old from Columbia who suffered severe complications and remains hospitalized.

Missouri and Illinois ban the sale of raw milk in retail stores, but customers can buy it directly from farms. Raw milk distributors are expressing doubts that unpasteurized dairy products are to blame.

The cases were found in Boone, Howard, Cooper and Camden counties.

 

Five of the E. coli victims are adults. A 2-year-old girl a 17-month-old child have developed symptoms of a condition that can cause kidney damage.

Gena Terlizzi, public information officer for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said raw dairy products are a possible factor in the cases but the source has not been positively identified.

Terlizzi did not say whether other possible sources of contamination were being investigated.