Coli Outbreak Spreads Across Three More States

Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the CDC’s Outbreak Response & Prevention Branch, believes that this fact, as well as the geographic distance and time difference, could point to a completely new, unrelated outbreak. They include one person in Kansas, one in North Dakota and three in Oklahoma. All five, who became sick on dates ranging from November 18 to November 26, reported eating at a Chipotle in the week before their illnesses started.

The development is the latest bad news for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which saw its sales plummet after the emergence of the larger E. coli outbreak that has sickened 53 people in nine states. The first cases were reported primarily in Washington and Oregon. He noted that even the most recent exposures reported by the CDC are now a month old.

“Since this issue began, we have completed a comprehensive reassessment of our food safety programs with an eye to finding best practices for each of the ingredients we use, ” Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman, said Tuesday in an emailed statement. Taylor Farms officials cited that report as the all clear for their products even though FDA officials said there could have been undetected pathogens in the fresh-cut mix. But it’s not clear how long it will take for the chain to regain its footing, and the company rescinded its sales outlook for 2016.

A traceback investigation did not identify a common source of contamination.

The CDC also said that out of 19 people that were reported ill with the E. coli infection, five of them were hospitalised and two of them developed a certain kind of kidney failure that is linked with a particular E. coli strain.

“I will say though, that we can assure you today that there is no E. coli in Chipotle”, founder and co-CEO Steve Ells told CNBC last week. The stock fell as low as 508.10 intraday, which was the lowest since May 2014.