CDC investigating new Chipotle E. coli cases

However, this person did not report eating at the burrito and tacos chain in the week before November 14, 2015, when his illness started. (NYSE:CMG) stock dipped a further 0.37% during after-market hours, following the new E. coli threat.

The new cases prompted a downgrade of Chipotle shares to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan on Tuesday.

In addition to more testing along the supply chain, Chipotle is instituting more high-tech food tracking inside its restaurants and some new procedures, including cutting, washing and testing tomatoes at central commissaries to ensure they are as clean as possible.

The E. coli cases were originally found in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, where 43 stores were closed, despite only 11 being found as the source of infections.

Earlier this month, Boston’s Public Health Commission also received multiple reports of gastrointestinal illness from 136 people who consumed food at the city’s Chipotle restaurant, according to a statement. Health inspectors believe ingredient or meal item served at Chipotle is likely the source of the outbreak, but they have not identified which specific food is linked to the illness.

After Chipotle was linked to the E. coli contagion in October, it temporarily shut down locations in Washington state and Oregon. It did not show the outbreak strain of E. coli. He noted that even the most recent exposures reported by the CDC are now a month old. The report is being seen as a huge negative by analysts and investors on the street. The firm owned 1,061,894 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92,178 shares during the period. It has also carried out additional food-safety training for employees.

Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the CDC’s Outbreak Response & Prevention Branch said, “These recent cases occurred several weeks after the last cases in the larger outbreak and in a different geographic location”.

Chipotle officials have taken action to enhance the company’s food safety program and hired Seattle-based IEH Laboratories to help improve the company’s safety practices, according to a Chipotle press release.