Chipotle Closes 43 Stores Due to E. Coli Outbreak ‘Video’

​Chipotle ​voluntarily closed 43 of its stores in the Pacific Northwest in response to an E. coli outbreak linked to its restaurants, the ​Seattle Times ​reports. According to the Oregon Health Authority, there are at least 22 confirmed cases, including three in Oregon and 19 in Washington.

The Washington State Department of Health issued a statement reading, “While the outbreak appears to be linked to food served at Chipotle restaurants, the food or other source of contamination hasn’t yet been determined and remains under investigation.” Washington’s State Epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist said in the statement that “Anyone who thinks they may have become ill from eating at a Chipotle restaurant in the past three weeks should consult their healthcare provider.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time consumption of a Chipotle burrito has been linked to subsequent illness, Gawker notes. The Food Poison Journal keeps a running tally of Chipotle-related disease outbreaks, which stood at six between 2008 and 2015, not counting the ongoing outbreak on the West Coast.

When food is properly cooked, there is little chance of pathogens surviving to infect consumers. But during an outbreak of salmonella in Minnesota tied to Chipotle locations in September 2015, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told ABC News there was no way for servers to know whether uncooked ingredients such as salad greens could be infected.

Agencies/Canadajournal