An E. coli outbreak traced to a Connecticut goat dairy is not linked to milk, cheese, soap or other products produced there, state officials said Wednesday. Additional victims are still being identified in the outbreak, though, with 41 people confirmed to have been sickened by the outbreak strain of E. coli O157. The majority of the victims are young children, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). “The patients range in age from 9 months to 45 years, with a median age of five years,” the DPH reported Wednesday. “The patients include seven adults and 34 children 18 years old and under; 22 of the children are age five years or under. “In total, 10 patients have been hospitalized with one still in the hospital.  Three of the hospitalized patients were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a rare but serious illness that affects the kidneys and blood clotting system. Two of the three children with HUS have recovered and were discharged from the hospital.” Oak Leaf Dairy in Lebanon, CT, remains closed to the public while state and federal officials continue to investigate the source of the outbreak, which was detected March 24. At that time, the state health department confirmed that six of seven people with E. coli infections had visited the dairy and come into contact with the goats there prior to becoming ill. The dairy owners had routinely allowed public tours of the operation, including petting zoo activities with the goats. “DPH has been able to determine that the exposures happened between March 6 and March 20, with onset of symptoms occurring between March 7 and March 24,” the department reported. Inspectors from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting Connecticut officials, who expect the investigation to continue “several weeks.” The investigators have, apparently, ruled out milk, foods and other products at Oak Leaf Dairy as the source of the E. coli outbreak. “Based on interviews of visitors to the farm conducted by DPH so far, there is no evidence that the milk, cheeses, caramels, lip balms, soaps and salves sold by the Oak Leaf Dairy were the cause of this E. coli outbreak,” according to the Wednesday update. “The milk and cheese products were pasteurized. Pasteurization heats milk to a high temperature for a short time, which kills the bacteria that cause illness.” (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)