Eighty Boston College students fell ill after eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) restaurant this past weekend, and early test results point to the highly contagious norovirus as the culprit, public health investigators said on Tuesday.
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The illnesses prompted the temporary closure of a Chipotle restaurant in Boston where the students ate, and come as the chain’s sales are already being slammed by a multistate outbreak of E. coli linked to its restaurants.
About 50 college students in California have also contracted norovirus, but it’s not clear where or how. That finding means the culprit is not E. coli, a much more risky bacterial infection that has sickened 52 patrons of Chipotle restaurants in nine other states. City officials said a restaurant employee was sick during a shift last week.
The city said the restaurant has not had any major violations since 2008. An outbreak of E.coli from Chipotle has spread from the west coast across the U.S.
On the other side of the country, meanwhile, prominent food safety lawyer Bill Marler tells us by email that an outbreak of foodborne illness has dampened spirits in his own office building.
The norovirus causes 20 million cases of gastrointestinal illness in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first cases were reported at the end of October in OR and Washington, with additional cases being reported later. The virus can be transmitted by touching sick people or contaminated surfaces, but in the case of the Chipotle patrons, Barry said, it was caused by ingestion.
Norovirus, notorious for ruining many a cruise, inflames the stomach and intestines, leading to severe vomiting and diarrhea that lasts one to three days.
Norovirus can persist in an environment for up to six weeks, said Benjamin Chapman, a food safety specialist at North Carolina State University.
In its annual report, Chipotle has noted that it may be at a higher risk for outbreaks of food-borne illnesses because of its “fresh produce and meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation”.
Chipotle shares closed down 1.7 percent at $542.24 Tuesday.
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Choi reported from NY.
