There are more than three dozen cases of confirmed people being sickened by an E. coli outbreak in Oregon and Washington state, an increase that has led to the popular quick service chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, to temporarily close restaurants.
Several Chipotle Mexican restaurants have been closed temporarily in Washington and Oregon in order for health officials to investigate the E. coli outbreak linked to the restaurant.
About 43 restaurants have voluntarily closed.
The Washington State Department of Health said no records show any death from the reported cases of infection. Seven Washington patients and three Oregon patients were hospitalized and one of the people sickened in the outbreak has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant chain, the Department of Health said.
In a statement, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told Eater.com, “We immediately closed all of our restaurants in the area out of an abundance of caution, even though the vast majority of these restaurants have no reported problems.”
Restaurants on the East coast, including Lakeland, Fla., have not been affected by any contaminated foods.
Students, like Hayley Maloy can relax that their local Chipotle will not be closing anytime soon.
“I honestly don’t think that the E. coli break-out has anything to do with Chipotle. I think if it did, then it would be affecting people here,” Maloy said.
