Chipotle is facing lawsuit over E. coli

Official: Confirmed cases, at 31, may rise

There now are at least 31 confirmed cases of people being sickened by E. coli in Oregon and Washington, a sharp rise in the number of people affected by an outbreak that has led to the popular fast casual restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill temporarily closing 43 restaurants in the Pacific Northwest.

Katrina Hedberg, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Health Authority, said Tuesday there are 12 confirmed cases in the states, up from the three confirmed cases state health officials reported on Saturday. Hedberg said at least eight of those stricken became ill after eating at a Chipotle restaurant. And public health officials in Washington have reported 19 confirmed cases of E. coli among people who had eaten at Chipotle restaurants.

“We are encouraging anyone who has eaten at a Chipotle restaurant and has developed severe diarrhea or bloody diarrhea (to) seek health care,” said Hedberg, who said most of those who became ill in Oregon were from the Portland area.

“At this point, we still think our case count may increase.”

Meanwhile, Charmaine Denise Mode of Kelso, Wash., who ate a burrito bowl at a Chipotle in Vancouver, Wash., sued the chain saying she is among more than two dozen people sickened by E. coli .

Mode, who is seeking $75,000 in damages, said she ate at Chipotle on Oct. 21 and got sick days later. A stool sample tested positive for shiga-toxin-producing E. coli, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday.

Hedberg said early indications suggest that the source of the E. coli was produce.