Since the last update on November 20th when the CDC reported 45 sickened in 6 states – California (2), Minnesota (2), New York (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (13), and Washington (26), seven more ill people have now been reported from California (1), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Washington (1) adding Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maryland to the mix.
Fifty-two people are now infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O26 from 9 states. The majority of illnesses have been reported from Washington and Oregon during October 2015. The number of ill people reported from each state is as follows: California (3), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (2), New York (1), Ohio (3), Oregon (13), Pennsylvania (1), and Washington (27).
Among people for whom information is available, illnesses started on dates ranging from October 19, 2015 to November 13, 2015. Ill people range in age from 1 year to 94, with a median age of 21. Fifty-nine percent of ill people are female. Twenty (38%) people reported being hospitalized. There have been no reports of hemolytic uremic syndrome and no deaths.
The initial outbreak was announced on November 4, 2015 by the CDC. It was at that time restaurants in Oregon and Washington were closed.
Some questions:
1. Are any of the illnesses in November “secondary cases” to the primary cases – cases that became ill from contact with people who became sick from eating at Chipotle?
2. If not secondary cases, when did the November cases consume food at Chipotle – or, was there some other food item in common?
3. Of the November cases, are any of them Oregon or Washington cases or were they in states that were not closed after the initial Chipotle announcement on November 4th.
4. With illnesses from so many states, is it not possible to determine which suppliers provided product to some stores but not all stores? Which products?
Ouch, what E. coli can do to your stock price:
According to Chipotle, non-recurring expenses during the fourth quarter of 2015 are expected to be in the range of $6.0 to $8.0 million. The estimate of non-recurring expenses includes costs to replace food in select restaurants, lab analysis of food samples and environmental swabs, and retaining expert advisory services related to epidemiology and food safety; it does not include any estimate for legal claims and related expenses.