In very bad news for the Chipotle Mexican Grill Public Relations department, 17 of their restaurants in the Twin Cities area, between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, have reportedly led to a new salmonella outbreak 2015, with 5 people having been sent to the hospital.

A total of 45 people from Minnesota have turned up with salmonella outbreak 2015 cases after eating in various Chipotle venues in the region, and although the source of the illnesses hasn't been officially confirmed yet, authorities at the Minnesota Department of Health suspect strongly that the contamination may have stemmed from restaurants of the fast casual chain.

According to Star Tribune, authorities have interviewed 34 patients of this new salmonella outbreak 2015, and they found that out of the, 32 ate at Chipotle restaurants in the Twin Cities area or even in St. Cloud or Rochester, between August 16 and August 26, becoming ill between August 20 and August 29.

Fox9 reports that, in the time the salmonella outbreak 2015 patients dined at the chain, Chipotle served over 560,000 patrons in Minnesota, which could ultimately lead to a major scare since, as it's still uncertain whether the chain's food was responsible for the outbreak, there's even less known about which item may have caused this.

"Health officials want to bring this outbreak to the attention of people who have become ill with symptoms of salmonellosis but who have not yet consulted a health care provider," officials of the Minnesota Health Department said through a statement regarding the salmonella outbreak 2015. "These people should mention this outbreak to their health care provider should they consult one."

While the situation clears up, Food Safety News reports that Chipotle has changed their supplier for the time being as a preventive measure while an investigation regarding the salmonella outbreak 2015 takes place.