Members of a Cree Nation community in northern Manitoba have been canvassing hundreds of home to help remove recalled meats related to the current listeriosis outbreak after a baby girl was suspected of dying from the bacteria.

Chief Jim Moore told CBC News that band councillors and other volunteers have visited 500 houses in Nelson House since Wednesday and found recalled meat products in five homes, including the baby's home.

"The whole community is taking it really hard," he said. "I'm very sad this happened and quite concerned that we don't see other people infected by this, and that's why we had to take quick action."

Manitoba's chief medical officer of health said lab tests have yet to confirm whether the death of six-week-old Alexiss McDonald-Moose is from the same strain of Listeria monocytogenes that was the underlying cause of death for 18 people across Canada and prompted Maple Leaf Foods to recall last month all its products from one Toronto plant.

Dr. Joel Kettner said an infant can be infected during pregnancy, during childbirth or from exposure after birth in the environment, "either from direct contact with an individual or some cross-contamination of food — from the fridge to a nursing bottle, for example."

Kettner and Public Health Agency of Canada officials say there may still be more cases to come even though the meat products have been pulled off store shelves because the listeria strain has an incubation period of up to 70 days.

To date, there are 48 confirmed cases and nine suspected cases of listeriosis. Listeriosis was the underlying cause of death in 18 of those confirmed cases and is suspected in seven other cases.