Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 3.44.49 PMI am not a big fan of The Center for Consumer Freedom, a critic of Chipotle backed by the food and beverage industry, but I have to give them some credit for being a bit “punny” when they took a swipe at the chain with a full page ad in the New York Post reading: “You can’t spell ‘Chipotle’ without ‘E. coli’.

The toll is now 40.

The case count in the investigation of an outbreak of E. coli illnesses related to Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon has been adjusted after a case was ruled out. A Clark County resident listed in the outbreak has been ruled out after additional testing. This drops the number of patients meeting the case definition in Washington to 28 and reduces related hospitalizations to 10. Case counts may fluctuate as additional test results are available and the investigation progresses.

The Washington State Department of Health continues working closely with local, state, and federal partners on a disease investigation to learn the extent of the outbreak and possible sources of E. coli bacteria.

The removal of one case from the investigation is the only change in case counts in today’s update for Washington. County residents of Clark (11), Cowlitz (3), Island (2), King (6), Skagit (5), and Whatcom (1) have been reported as outbreak cases. Most of the 28 reported cases say they were at Chipotle restaurants before getting sick. Ten of the Washington residents were hospitalized. Cases range in age from 1-to-67.

Five Chipotle restaurants in Washington are associated with this outbreak: Hazel Dell, 7715 NE 5th Avenue, Suite 109, in Vancouver; 1404 Broadway Avenue and 4229 University Way NE in Seattle; 512 Ramsey Way 101 in Kent; and 1753 S. Burlington Blvd. in Burlington.

The Oregon Health Authority is reporting a total of 12 cases of Shiga toxin E. coli O26 linked to eating at Chipotle restaurants in the Portland Metro area, up from three cases that were first reported October 31.

Among the cases, three were hospitalized. People in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties, as well as Columbia, Benton and Deschutes counties have reported symptoms.

Five locations in Oregon are involved, all of them in the Portland metro area: Cascade Station at 9687 N.E. Cascades Parkway; Washington Square at 9120 S.W. Hall Blvd.; Lake Oswego at 8 Centerpointe Dr.; Tanasbourne at 2048 N.W. Stucki Ave., and Sunnyside in the Clackamas Town Center.

And, Ouch:

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