According to state health officials, an E. coli outbreak linked to a restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, has lead to more than 200 people suffering from food poisoning, and has been linked to at least one death.

As maintained by state epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley, the Country Cottage restaurant has been closed voluntarily for over a week, although the source of the outbreak hasn’t been identified yet.

"The complexity of this outbreak and the necessity to be extremely thorough in our investigation means we still have more questions than answers," Bradley stated.

206 cases of food poisoning among people who had a meal at the restaurant have been confirmed. The age of the sickened consumers ranged from 2 months old to 88 years old, The Associated Press reported. Over a quarter of them (53) were children, state health officials said. They were all taken to several hospitals in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, in order to receive medical treatment.

Up to now, only one death has been linked to the E. coli outbreak. The victim was identified as Chad Ingle, a 26-year old man.
The investigators examine all possible sources, restaurants and specific food sources counting among them, according to the press statement issued by The Oklahoma State Department of Health. Also, they are interviewing the individuals who fell ill, the epidemiologist said. 

Water coming from a private well located on the property of the Country Cottage restaurant was ruled out as a source of the contamination, health officials said.

Less than 50 cases of E. coli contamination have been reported in Oklahoma every year, starting 2005, records from Oklahoma State Department of Health showed.