After Outbreak, Chipotle in Cleveland Circle Re-Opens

A Chipotle in the Boston area that sickened dozens of Boston College students is allowed to open back up on Thursday.

Boston health inspectors visited the restaurant on Beacon Street on Wednesday, reported WHDH News. The Chipotle was given a 100 percent inspection rating. In addition, all 25 employees were tested for the norovirus.

A sick employee is being blamed for the spreading of the norovirus to many who ate at Chipotle in early December. The manager who allowed the sick employee to work has been dismissed, reported the Boston Business Journal.

Health officials determined within three days of the outbreak that it was a norovirus that sickened about 80 people who ate at a Boston-area Chipotle Mexican Grill during the first weekend in December. Initial estimates suggested 25-30 customers had become ill. The number quickly grew to 140.

Initially, officials were concerned that the illnesses, which affected Boston College students, including eight basketball players, were the result of E.coli, an outbreak of which at Chipotle Mexican Grill has spread from the west coast across the U.S.

Health officials soon determined it was not E.coli but the norovirus.

“Norovirus is usually transmitted from the feces to the mouth, either by drinking contaminated food or water or by passing from person to person,”according to Foodborne Illness. “Because noroviruses are easily transmitted, are resistant to common disinfectants, and are hard to contain using normal sanitary measures, they can cause extended outbreaks.”

Photo Credit: WHDH-TV Channel 7 News