Chipotle E. Coli Outbreak Extends To 6 States, Mexican Grill’s Shares Drop

Chipotle Mexican Grills’ E. coli outbreak has spread to six states, while news of the restaurant’s issues has seen stock in the chain drop by 12 percent as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed on Friday that the E. coli outbreak that has been damaging and affecting Chiptole Mexican Grill has now extended from Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, to Ohio, California, and New York.

The news that it has now extended to half a dozen states could have huge repercussions for Chipotle Mexican Grill, as it was previously believed that this outbreak had just affected the northwest.

After the outbreak of the disease was originally announced at the start of November, it was suggested that the problem had only infected people in three states.

On November 4, cases of food poisoning were first reported in Oregon and Washington. Further updates were then provided by the CDC on November 5, and November 6, while on November 17 it was alleged that the outbreak had appeared in Minnesota.

Each of these updates still suggested that the outbreak was just in the northwest though.

However, it’s now been revealed that 45 people from the likes of California, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington, had now been struck down.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have insisted that, according to their evidence, meals from Chipotle Mexican Grill were the “likely source of the outbreak.”

According to the CDC, most of those who have been blighted by the illness come from Washington, as 26 people have been infected from this state. Then 13 come from Oregon, two from California, two from Minnesota, while Ohio and New York have each had one victim.

From the information gathered by the CDC, 43 of the 45 ill people interviewed ate at Chipotle Mexican Grill before they became ill.

Since the last update from the CDC, victims from California, New York, and Ohio have been confirmed, and it’s thought that this revelation could spark further people infected with E. coli to come forward.

Those who have been blighted with the infection from eating at Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurants have, according to the CDC website, been “infected with the outbreak strain of the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli026 (STEC 026).”

The website added, “The epidemiological 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.”

Their investigation is still ongoing though, and those in charge are currently trying to figure out which Chipotle meal and food caused the spate of illnesses.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is working together with the CDC to try and figure out exactly what has caused this problem, with CDC’s website adding that they are “assisting health officials with understanding the distribution of food items served at locations where ill people ate.”

This announcement from the CDC immediately sent shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill tumbling down over 12 percent. According to Reuters, shares in Chipotle dropped $75.32 to $536.19.

Last week, after a thorough and deep clean in the restaurants in the area, which also replaced the food, Chipotle reopened 43 restaurants. In order to try and combat this problem, Chipotle have also hired food safety consultants and they’ve decided to change their food preparation protocol too.

The increasing number of victims means that the likelihood of the source of this outbreak being revealed has significantly been increased. That’s according to Bill Marler, a Seattle-based lawyer who is representing almost three dozen people that have been affected, who explained, “There has to be a common supplier with a common food item.”

[Images via Getty/Steve Dykes]