Boston chipotle closed after 80 illnesses; employee worked while ill

There are now 80 students at Boston College who are experiencing serious stomach systems – including most of the college’s men’s basketball team – and they all have one thing in common: they ate at the same Chipotle!

Chipotle, already grappling with a multistate E. coli outbreak, has temporarily closed the Cleveland Circle restaurant where the Boston College students reported eating. He noted Chipotle has no confirmation, but that the company hopes to have more information later Tuesday.

As of noon Tuesday, 80 Boston College students have reported to the school’s health services with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea, says university spokesman Jack Dunn. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food or just by touching a contaminated surface.

According to a report from the Boston Inspectional Services department, which is responsible for inspecting the city’s restaurants, three violations were found at the restaurant.

Lora Rae Anderson, a spokeswoman at the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, said Tuesday that no complaints or reported incidents had been filed regarding Chipotle, which operates 19 locations in the state, including in New Haven, Shelton, Hamden and Milford. However, it would take two days for the test results to be made available. The virus is very contagious and can spread quickly in places such as daycare centers and cruise ships. At least 11 locations in Washington and OR were linked to E. coli cases in those states between October 13 and November 7, though no new illnesses have occurred since then, according to the release.

Chipotle is calling this an isolated incident not related to the E-coli outbreak. To date, 52 cases of E. coli in nine states have been reported.

In its latest annual report, Chipotle explained it may be at a higher risk of food-borne illness than some competitors due to its “use of fresh produce and meats rather than frozen” and “reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation”. That would mark the first decline since the company went public in 2006.

Since the original E. coli incident, Chipotle’s stock shares have fallen at least eight percent.