Chipotle claims norovirus sickened Boston students

Chipotle said Tuesday that it believes norovirus is to blame for sickening Boston College students who ate at one of its restaurant locations. The company believes the illnesses are an isolated incident unrelated to the outbreak of E. coli cases tied to the chain’s U.S. outposts. 

“All evidence we have points in that direction,” Chris Arnold, a Chipotle Mexican Grille Inc. spokesman, said. He noted the company has no confirmation that the Boston College illnesses were caused by norovirus. It can spread through infected people, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces.

Thirty students, including at least eight members of the men’s basketball team, complained of gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at a Chipotle location which has since been closed, Boston College officials said Monday. 

Boston College said several students came to the school’s health services center and the “common factor” among them was that they had eaten at the Chipotle restaurant in the Cleveland Circle neighborhood near campus. The school said it notified the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and was working with health authorities to investigate the cause.

“We cannot confirm a cause of the illness at this time, but we are coordinating with Boston public health officials to determine the case,” Scott Zoback, a spokesman for the public health agency, said. 

Earlier, Arnold told the Associated Press in an email that the company was also working with local health officials to investigate the illnesses. He said the company had no evidence to suggest that the incident is related to previous cases. 

Chris Cameron, a spokesman for the school’s athletics department, said the basketball players reported gastrointestinal symptoms overnight Saturday. Head coach Jim Christian said he got a call from two players Sunday morning saying they had food poisoning. One was a Dennis Clifford, the team’s leading rebounder, who did not play in the team’s 68-66 loss Sunday to UMass-Lowell. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Chipotle-linked E.coli outbreak has sickened 52 people across nine states so far, but the ingredient that made people ill has not been identified. 

Chipotle, which has more than 1,900 locations, has said it is adopting stricter food safety standards.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus causes inflammation of the stomach, intestines, or both, leading to pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Some strains of E.coli, a bacteria that can be transmitted through contaminated water or food, or through contact with animals or people, can cause diarrhea or illness outside the intestinal tract.