Coli source a mystery as Chipotle stock drops

Chris Arnold, a spokesperson for the eatery, said the company agreed with health officials that it is likely a norovirus, which seems very consistent with the pattern here.

“We can confirm that there have been reports of gastrointestinal illness among Boston College students”, said Scott Zoback, a spokesman for the public health agency.

And roughly one-third of the people attending an office party in Seattle that was catered by Bon Appétit Management became ill with norovirus, which can be spread by an infected person, contaminated surfaces, or food and water.

As of Tuesday, the Boston Public Health Department (BPHD) confirmed that 80 students from Boston College had fallen ill with norovirus after dining at a Chipotle restaurant near campus.

U.S. health authorities are still investigating whether E. coli was the culprit, but if confirmed, the illnesses reported Tuesday would make MA the 10th state to be affected by an E. coli outbreak that began in a cluster of western states last month. 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.

Health officials in Boston said several violations had been found in that store, including undercooked meat and an employee who was working while sick.

Norovirus and E. coli have similar symptoms – diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and fever. But he noted the E. coli cases are “all the more damaging” for Chipotle because of its “Food With Integrity” slogan.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., based in Denver, had said that whatever the likely ingredient was that made people sick is out of its restaurants and that it is adopting stricter food-safety standards.

Norovirus causes more than 20 million illnesses annually in the USA, and it is the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States. That would mark the first time the company has posted a decline since it went public in 2006.

Shares of Chipotle fell $8.75, or 1.6 percent, to $543 in afternoon trading Tuesday. According to ABC News, reports of the fresh outbreak started trickling in on Tuesday noon.