Boston: Boston College Now Says 120 Students Reporting Illnesses

Boston College said Thursday that a total of 141 students reported norovirus symptoms after eating at the Chipotle over the weekend.

Chipotle closed the location in order to clean it and determine what caused the illness to spread.

It is important to point towards the fact that the Boston Public Health Commission said that the initial results of the test conducted by officials showed the presence of norovirus.

The burrito chain said on Monday it had temporarily closed the restaurant in Boston’s Cleveland Circle where the students had eaten.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that the E. coli outbreak has reached nine states and sickened 52 people as of Thursday, hospitalizing 20 of them. At that time, the closing of those specific Chipotle restaurants was completely voluntary. Other analysts are still tired that the announcement of even more food-borne illness outbreaks from last week will place the Chipotle in a detrimental crisis and the stock will only continue to plummet.

“Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause inflammation of the stomach and large intestine lining (gastroenteritis); they are the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S …”

In Brookline this year, inspection of the Chipotle on Commonwealth Avenue found a serious violation – failure to have a manager certified in food safety – which was not resolved until recently, said Alan Balsam, town director of public health and human services.

According to Nbc News, City health officials have ordered the outlet of Chipotle to be closed. The school asks anyone who has norovirus symptoms to contact Health Services.

Norovirus can persist in an environment for up to six weeks, said Benjamin Chapman, a food safety specialist at North Carolina State University.

This appears to be the peak of the outbreak, but Ells cautioned that the contagious nature of norovirus could mean there will be more cases reported. “We’re thinking about the safety and quality of our ingredients to put in place practices that will not enable this to happen again, practices that are so far above industry norms today that we will be the safest place to eat”.

Reuters reports that shares for the company jumped over 5% after Ells’ apology.

Ells said the Brighton restaurant has taken the proper steps to assure safety.