ASHVILLE, N.Y. -- A New York meat company has recalled almost 546,000 pounds of ground beef because of links to a death and illnesses in New Hampshire, in addition to illnesses from E. coli bacteria in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.

Health officials in New Hampshire announced Saturday the death of a person and the illnesses of two others who they said ate meat that may have been contaminated with E. coli. The two people hospitalized have since been released.

"One person has died and two were affected and recovered, and so we are continuing to work on this investigation with the CDC," said Chris Adamski, chief of disease control for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, told WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday the meat, sold by Fairbank Farms, was linked to cases of the food-borne illness in the three New England states. The agency said retail stores -- including Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant -- sold the ground beef. Each package carried the number "EST. 492" inside the USDA inspection mark or on the nutrition label.

In addition, ground beef packaged under the Fairbank Farms name was distributed to stores in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia for further processing.