“Forty-two of the 45 cases linked to Chipotle, reported visiting one of the restaurants in question between October 13 and October 30”. Those numbers are up from the 11 illnesses and two states that were cited in the reports on the original outbreak.
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Chipotle said the CDC informed it of six new cases in which initial tests match the strain of E. coli involved in the Washington and OR incident.
So far, the Chipotle E. coli outbreak is far less severe, but Chipotle’s sales will likely suffer in the short-term as customers think twice about visiting its restaurants. And while the chances of you getting sick at a Chipotle this weekend are low-only 45 people have been affected, although the Associated Press reports a few cases may not have been reported yet-at least you’re going in armed with the knowledge that it could potentially happen.
Investigators say it looks as if a common menu item or ingredient served at a few Chipotle restaurants is to blame – but they still can’t pinpoint the source.
“The idea that eating at any of our restaurants could cause anyone to become ill is unacceptable to all of us at Chipotle”, Ells wrote.
Although Chipotle has gotten back to business as usual this month in OR and Washington, consumers didn’t forget what happened so quickly.
Last week, after a thorough and deep clean in the restaurants in the area, which also replaced the food, Chipotle reopened 43 restaurants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked two cases in California, two in Minnesota, one in NY and one in OH, with the latest case dating to November 8.
An outbreak of E. coli linked to has expanded to six states.
The CDC said Friday that there are now cases in the states of California, Minnesota, OH and NY as well as OR and Washington.
The source of the food contamination has not yet been found, but a few investigators and experts suspect produce or another perishable item.
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The E-coli outbreak was initially identified only in Washington, Seattle, OR and Portland and the company immediately closed its 43 restaurants in the region as early as on 31 October.
