Before the E. coli cases in Minnesota, New York, California and OH were added to the outbreak, officials from the CDC reported as many as 50 cases in just OR and Washington.
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In the new report, the CDC said that 45 people fell ill from the E. coli O26 outbreak strain, with nearly all (43) of them getting sick shortly after eating at Chipotle restaurants.
Chipotle said no new cases have been reported in Washington or OR since the company worked on the issue there in recent weeks and that no Chipotle employees in any states have been ill related to this incident. The plunge in the stock was on the back of a report which suggested an outbreak of E.coli linked to Chipotle which originated in the Pacific Northwest had now spread to the south and east and has infected people in six states.
The CDC reported on Friday that forty-five people infected with the outbreak strain have been reported, including a man who ate at a Cleveland area restaurant.
-Oct. 31: Authorities announce an investigation into a food-borne illness tied to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Those restaurants have reopened. No deaths have occurred, but 16 people were hospitalized due to the infection.
On November 4, cases of food poisoning were first reported in OR and Washington.
Two were in Turlock, Calif., one in Akron, Ohio, one in Amherst, NY, and one in Burnsville, Minn. Of those people, 43 said they had eaten at a Chipotle.
On news Friday that the outbreak had spread, shares of Chipotle plunged more than 12 percent to a new low for the year. More severe cases in those with weakened immune systems can lead to a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which typically affects children and older adults.
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Chipotle, based in Denver, has about 1,900 restaurants across the country, and touts its food as fresh and healthy. “We are committed to taking any and all necessary actions to make sure our food is as safe as possible, and we are working diligently with the health agencies”, he said in a statement.
