Kent Chipotle illnesses said to be the result of norovirus

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by Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier Reporter

Kent -- Food samples taken the day the city's Chipotle restaurant closed, after reports of illness connected to the popular eatery surfaced, have tested negative for several bacterial strains.

The Ohio Department of Health on April 28 released the results of the tests, which showed the food samples did not contain staphyloenterotoxin, salmonella, shigella, E. Coli or fecal coliforms.

Health officials confirmed norovirus, which causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, caused hundreds of people to become sick after eating at the restaurant.

However, Kent Health Commissioner John Ferlito said food samples cannot be tested for the presence of the virus.

"All the food we tested was negative for bacteria all the way through," he said.

Officials were testing for fecal coliforms because their presence in the food would indicate the samples had become contaminated with human feces, which can contain the virus.

Tests conducted on stool samples of those who became ill tested positive for norovirus.

Ferlito said local health officials will continue examining the case.

FURTHER TESTS are planned to determine if a specific food item contained elements of the virus, but because of the nature of how Chipotle's menu elements are mixed together into one item the tests could prove difficult, if at all conclusive.

Health officials also plan to interview 40 people who ate at the restaurant and became ill and 40 people who did not become sick to see if one common food item linked all the people who fell ill.

"It will tell us if it was the cheese, or the salsa, or something like that was contaminated," Ferlito said.

More than 400 people have claimed they became ill after eating at the restaurant. It closed April 18 and reopened April 19 after it was sanitized.

Ferlito said no more reports have come in of people becoming sick after dining at Chipotle.

Secondary cases have emerged in people taking care of sick friends and relatives, and officials urge people in those situations to take extra care when washing their hands.

Ferlito said it only takes a very small amount of the norovirus to make one person sick or cause an outbreak.

"By the actions the restaurant took we've stopped the agent," he said.

E-mail:

mfredmonsky@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155