Restaurant ruled out as source of E. coli infection that killed 4-year-old Oregon girl

PORTLAND -- A restaurant in the town of Otis, Ore., is not the source of an E. coli infection connected to the death of a 4-year-old Oregon girl, as her family had first thought, authorities said Wednesday, according to KPTV/Portland.

Serena Profitt was taken off life support at Doernbecher Children's Hospital on Sept. 8. Doctors confirmed she tested positive for E. coli and died from complications of hemolytic uremic syndrome.

The source of the E. coli was not immediately known and health officials launched an investigation, KPTV said.

Serena's family said she had shared a sandwich with a friend, a young boy from Tacoma, at a restaurant in Otis over Labor Day weekend. The boy also contracted E. coli.

On Wednesday, Lincoln County Health and Human Services announced that laboratory test results cleared the restaurant as a possible source of the E. coli.

Investigators said samples taken from the restaurant were analyzed at the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory and came back negative.

The source of the bacteria has not been determined and the investigation is ongoing, but public health officials said they are confident "that there is extremely low risk of E. coli infection to the public."

State employees checked Serena's home in Otis as part of the investigation, including swabbing inside the home, collecting samples from a pond behind the house and examining the family's farm animals for any signs of E. coli.

Results of those tests have not been released, KPTV said.