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Public health officials have linked recalled ground beef to illnesses from a rare strain of E. coli, the first such linkage to that strain in this country, adding fuel to an already fierce debate over expanding federal rules meant to keep the toxic bacteria out of the meat supply.

Cargill Meat Solutions, a division of Minnetonka-based Cargill Inc., recalled 8,500 pounds of hamburger Saturday after investigators determined that it was the likely source of a bacterial strain known as E. coli O26, which had sickened three people in Maine and New York.

Under federal rules, it is illegal to sell ground beef containing a more common strain of the bacteria, E. coli O157:H7, which has been responsible for thousands of illnesses, many deaths and the recall of millions of pounds of beef over the years. But federal regulators are considering whether to give the same illegal status to at least six other E. coli strains, including O26, which can also make people violently sick.

The meat industry has opposed such a change, saying it is not needed. Among the arguments the industry has used was one stubborn fact: No outbreak in this country from the rarer strains of E. coli had ever been definitively tied to ground beef.

That is an argument the industry can no longer make.

"It might act as a catalyst," James Marsden, a professor of food safety and security at Kansas State University, said about the outbreak and recall. "Clearly it's back on the front burner, that's for sure, and clearly USDA is under pressure."

The U.S. Agriculture Department has been trying for several years to decide what to do about the additional strains of E. coli. The issue now falls in the lap of the Obama administration's new head of food safety at the department, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, who was appointed last month.

Hagen has yet to say publicly what she plans to do. But in a written statement provided to the New York Times, she said, "In order to best prevent illnesses and deaths from dangerous E. coli in beef, our policies need to evolve to address a broader range of these pathogens, beyond E. coli O157:H7." She added, "Our approach should ensure that public health and food safety policy keeps pace with the demonstrated advances in science and data about food-borne illness to best protect consumers."

Michael Martin, a spokesman for Cargill, said the company was working to determine what had gone wrong.

The ground beef in the recall was produced June 11 at a Cargill packing plant in Wyalusing, Pa., and eventually sold through BJ's Wholesale Club stores in eight East Coast states, according to the USDA.

Later in June, a person in New York state fell ill with E. coli O26. In July, two people in Maine became sick, in separate incidents.