Boston College: Students sick after eating at Chipotle

“We agree with health officials that it is likely a norovirus, which seems very consistent with the pattern here”, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told ABC News in a statement.

The school said it was working with local health officials to determine whether the illnesses were tied to an outbreak of E. coli that has been linked to Chipotle.

As many as 80 Boston College students, including basketball players, say they got sick after eating at Chipotle in Brighton, according to the school.

Chipotle said that there’s no evidence to suggest the Boston incident is related to previous cases, noting that there’s been no confirmed cases of E. coli connected to the restaurant operator in MA.

Chipotle, which is grappling with a states-wide E. coli outbreak linked to its burrito chain, said the Boston illnesses were likely caused by norovirus, not E. coli, and that it would not shutter any other outlets in the city. However, it would take two days for the test results to be made available.

Following these reports, Chipotle temporarily closed that specific restaurant.

Shares of Chipotle slipped $9.98, or 1.8 percent, to $541.77 in midday trading Tuesday. An employee of the restaurant reported being sick last week, but it was not known if that illness is in any way related to the customer outbreak.

Noroviruses are more common than E. coli and easily transmitted through person-to-person contact, contaminated surface areas, and through food and drink.

The 80 students have been tested for both E.coli and norovirus, according to a university spokesperson. Reached by phone earlier Tuesday, Massachusetts Department of Public Health spokesperson Scott Zoback said he expected a cause to be determined within 24 hours. The first cases were reported at the end of October in OR and Washington, with additional cases being reported later. Local health departments are encouraged to seek further resources from the state if they have reason to believe there’s been an incident, Anderson said. “That said, we are in the process of implementing an enhanced food safety system nationwide that will make us the industry leader in food safety”.

Things aren’t good for Chipotle.

In its annual report, Chipotle has noted 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”.