A third death linked to spinach tainted with a potentially deadly strain of E. coli has been confirmed in the United States, Nebraska health officials said Friday.

The officials said an 84-year-old Nebraska woman died in late August after eating spinach contaminated with the O157:H7 strain of E. coli that recently sickened more than 190 people in 26 U.S. states.

Health officials in Idaho confirmed on Thursday that a two-year-old boy died in that state from eating contaminated greens. Tainted spinach also killed an elderly Wisconsin woman.

A woman in Renfrew County, Ont., became ill in early September from the same type of E. coli bacteria and had to be treated in hospital. The provincial health ministry believes the bacteria came from spinach that U.S. officials have traced to three counties in California.

Investigators have traced the outbreak to Natural Selection Foods, which supplies spinach to more than a dozen companies.

On Wednesday, the FBI searched the Natural Selection Foods plant in San Juan Bautista, Calif., and a Growers Express plant in Salinas, Calif., for possible violations of environmental laws and to ensure they followed food safety procedures.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a warning on Sept. 15, advising consumers not to eat fresh spinach from the U.S., including spinach that is bagged, loose or in salad blends.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it was safe to eat U.S.-packaged spinach again, but Canadian health officials have not yet followed suit.

Contaminated lettuce in Ontario

In Ontario, a similar health scare involving lettuce unfolded over the past week. But health officials in the province say they believe the danger has passed after a number of people became infected with E. coli, possibly from eating lettuce tainted with the bacteria.

Fourteen cases — 11 in Hamilton and three in Sudbury — were confirmed as of Friday. At least 20 others were being investigated for a possible common link.

Officials said the fact there have been no new cases in a week indicates that further bacterial infections are unlikely.

The E. coli bacteria in question, O157:H7, is the same bug that was behind the water-borne outbreak in Walkerton, Ont., in May 2000 that killed seven people.