Ack’s not chicken

Chipotle investor cheers on sickly chain

Bill Ackman isn’t afraid of Twitter — and he isn’t afraid of getting diarrhea, either.

The hedge fund tycoon proved both of those things Wednesday as he tweeted for the first time, attaching a picture of himself standing in line at Chipotle — despite this week’s norovirus scare that temporarily shuttered a location in Virginia.

As one of the burrito chain’s largest investors, Ackman, who only joined Twitter on June 29, has weathered a reported food-poisoning crisis at the Virginia eatery that has sent customers to the hospital with vomiting, sweating and diarrhea — and sent the chain’s shares tumbling 6 percent over the past two days.

“Eating our own cooking @ChipotleTweets,” Ackman tweeted.

Chipotle’s shares closed down $2.15, to $372.83, on Wednesday. The crisis has cost the company more than $500 million in market cap.

Meanwhile, the public relations nightmare for Chipotle, which sickened hundreds of customers in 2015 during a massive food-poisoning out- break in nine states, is showing no signs of letting up.

Phone calls from Chipotle customers claiming to be sick after eating at the Sterling, Va., location over the weekend are still streaming into the local health depart- ment in Loudoun County.

“We are getting some more reports as individuals see media reporting of the situation,” David Goodfriend, director of the Loudoun County Health Department, told The Post.

Goodfriend said up to 40 customers have contacted his agency so far.

Some customers have also reached out to lawyers.

“We are starting to get a number of calls,” said Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer who represented dozens of Chipotle customers who became ill during the 2015 outbreaks.

Chipotle can expect to fork over $5,000 to $10,000 per customer to settle the Sterling outbreak, according to Marler.

“But the real problem for Chipotle is the 6 percent drop in its stock price and the loss of its reputation,” said the lawyer.