Chipotle's E. Coli outbreak has resulted in the Mexican restaurant chain closing 43 of its locations. According to health officials, the number of those affected in Washington and Oregon are expected to grow in the coming days.
A report Friday said that those sickened by the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak are 19 in Western Washington, including four in King County and three in Portland. Seventeen of those 19 have consumed food from a Chipotle restaurant in the past weeks.
Fortunately, there have been no reported deaths following the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak. Eight have been confined at hospitals, two of which are located in King County.
One of the two hospitalized in King County have been released, according to James Apa, spokesman for Public Health in Seattle & King County.
Meanwhile, medical epidemiologist Marisa D'Angeli has said that she expects more people to get checked after word of the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak gets out.
"We actually would expect there might be a jump in cases on Monday," D'Angeli said.
Symptoms of E. Coli infection have been reported in Clackamas and Washington counties in Oregon, and Clark, King, Skagit and Cowlitz counties in Washington, according to CBS News.
While there are originally hundreds of E. coli bacteria in human intestines, most are harmless. However, some few can potentially cause grave illnesses.
Symptoms of infection from E. coli bacteria are nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. According to health officials, the best defense is hand washing with soap and water.
Those who have eaten at Chipotle since mid-October and who has been sick with intestinal symptoms are now encouraged to go to their doctor for tests.
There is still no determined source for the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak. Disease detectives are continuing their investigation into the contaminations, reported The Seattle Times.
"We're very early in the investigation," according to D'Angeli.
She added that the most likely source of the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak is a fresh food product since the outbreak could not be traced to one sick person or cross-contamination of food.
As for Chipotle, the company has been cooperative throughout the outbreak and has voluntarily shut down all of its restaurants in two states.
Chipotle restaurants in Oregon and Washington may reopen, but that will only be determined by the investigation.
"Right now, that is the priority," according to company spokesman Chris Arnold.
He added that there aren't any plans to close restaurants in other states since there is no evidence of E. Coli contamination there.
The Chipotle E. Coli outbreak has only been linked to six restaurants in Oregon in Washington state, but all 43 restaurants in the state have been closed down.
According to Reuters, outbreaks of food poisoning outbreaks have been common in the past, most often causing lawsuits. However, sales recover relatively quickly following the outbreaks such as the Taco Bell case in 2011 and Subway case in 2008. It is a different story however when the contaminations turn lethal.
