Betty Howard, 83, died Friday of heart failure nearly five months after she was hospitalized with symptoms of sickness caused by eating contaminated spinach.

Lola Russell, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says Howard's death is not being listed as E. coli-related.

Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents her family and the families of many others affected by the E-coli poisoning, says Howard's case was confirmed by genetic tests that linked it to the fatal strain of E. coli.

The retired secretary for a Hanford nuclear reservation contractor became ill and was hospitalized after eating a turkey sandwich with spinach on it in early September.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said three people died and about 200 others were sickened after eating bagged fresh spinach from California's Salinas Valley in September.