Chipotle E. coli outbreak expands

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Chipotle warned Friday that an outbreak of E. coli linked to its restaurants is hurting its sales and warned that if recent trends continue, it expects earnings for the current quarter to come in way below analysts’ prediction. Shares slid more than 7 percent in after-market trading.

The outbreak has expanded to nine states, with a total of 52 reported illnesses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said Friday that seven additional people were sickened, including in three more states – Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The most recent illness started Nov. 13, it said.

The majority of the illnesses have been in Oregon and Washington, where cases initially were reported at the end of October. Additional cases later were reported in California, Minnesota, New York and Ohio.

Of the 52 people infected, the CDC says 47 reported eating at a Chipotle restaurant the week before the illness started. The agency has not yet determined the ingredient that made people sick.

The CDC also said illnesses that started after Nov. 11 may not be reported yet.

People usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, the bacteria commonly associated with foodborne outbreaks, for two to eight days after swallowing the germ, according to the CDC. Most infected people get diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

Chipotle said Friday that store closures and bad publicity linked to the outbreak have slammed its sales.