Chipotle E. Coli Outbreak Spreads

By RYAN BONNER (Patch National Staff)

An E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill has spread to states neighboring Pennsylvania, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

A person who ate at a Chipotle restaurant in Amherst, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, is among 45 people in six states who have become ill from what the CDC says are Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26) infections. Sixteen of those people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Of the 45 cases, 43 people interviewed reported eating at a Chipotle restaurant in the week before their illness started.

“The epidemiologic evidence available at this time suggests that a common meal item or ingredient served at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants in several states is a likely source of this outbreak,” the CDC said.

The E. coli outbreak started in the Northwest last month and Chipotle temporarily closed 43 of its restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Those restaurants re-opened last week.

“At the moment, we do not believe that it is necessary to close any restaurants,” Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told the Associated Press Friday.

The 45 E. coli cases, with illnesses beginning from Oct. 19 to Nov. 8, have been reported in Washington (26), Oregon (13), California (2), Minnesota (2), New York (1) and Ohio (1).

Illnesses that occurred after Oct. 31 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported, which can take 2-3 weeks, according to the CDC.

Chipotle says it has responded aggressively to the E. coli outbreak. The company is conducting food and environmental testing in affected restaurants and testing food in its distribution center.

“At this point no cause has been established between this issue and any ingredient,” the company said on its website.

If you became ill with diarrhea symptoms after eating at a Chipotle recently, you should contact a doctor, the CDC said.

Photo: Flickr/CreativeCommons/Mike Mozart