Update: Deschutes E.coli case not tied to Chipotle outbreak

Health officials said Tuesday 37 people have confirmed E. coli cases in Washington and Oregon amid an outbreak tied to Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest, up from 22 cases reported late last week.

However, officials said late Tuesday they had determined one case in Deschutes County is not tied to the outbreak elsewhere.

However, OHA spokesman Jonathan Modie said late Tuesday that “as it turns out, the Deschutes County case is now no longer tied to the outbreak, and there are no known (Oregon0 cases related to Chipotle that are outside the Portland metro area.”

He said “DNA “fingerprinting test results the OHA received Tuesday afternoon had led to the change.

Technically, the process is known as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE (http://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet/pathogens/pfge.html).

“It’s how we unequivocally show that a specific strain is or isn’t implicated in an outbreak (ie, PFGE from one person who got sick is matched or doesn’t match with other persons who got sick, the source of the contamination like a food item, etc.),” Modie explained.

Dr. Paul Cieslack with the Oregon Health Authority had listed the Deschutes County case earlier in the day, based on lab testing.

However, he had noted it was not confirmed yet if that person ate at the Chipotle in Bend.

“That case might be dropped (out of this outbreak) after further testing,” Cieslack said. “It’s all very preliminary at this point.”

The Oregon Health Authority said they have 12 confirmed cases of Shiga toxin E. coli. Among the Oregon cases, three were hospitalized, but have since been released, Dr. Katrina Hedberg, M.D., state health officer with OHA’s Public Health Division, told reporters at a media briefing Tuesday.

There have been no deaths. People in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties, as well as Columbia, Benton and Deschutes counties have reported symptoms.

Hedberg said eight of the 12 patients have been interviewed and had eaten at the chain. The majority of the illnesses were in the Portland area.

Washington health officials said they are still testing samples from people who have fallen ill in Clark, Cowlitz, Island, King and Skagit counties to see if they all have the same form of the potentially deadly illness.

Nine people in Washington and three in Oregon have been hospitalized, but no one has died. People with E. coli connected with the outbreak have ranged in age from 5 to 60.

The Bend location remained open on Tuesday. Health officials said E.coli cases are not uncommon and not all are automatically linked to the Mexican food chain.

“There have been a few cases of E.coli in Deschutes County over the last few months but those have not been associated with Chipotle,” said Eric Mone, health inspector and supervisor for Deschutes County Environmental Health.

On Monday, Mone inspected the Bend Chipotle and did not find any obvious violations, but he said his office does not test the food itself.

“I know that Oregon Health Authority is looking at produce as high on the suspect list as the source of this contamination and the Bend location has stopped selling lettuce based on that advice from the state,” Mone said.

According to Cieslack, that’s because raw produce like lettuce, tomatoes or avocados are not cooked and more prone to carry E. coli.

In a statement Tuesday to NewsChannel 21, Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold said: “No cause has been identified, and we are not going to speculate about what the cause may be, but rather will wait for the investigation to reach a conclusion.”

The last confirmed case in Oregon was reported on Oct. 23, but officials believe there will be more to come.

“It wouldn’t surprise me to see more cases, and I’m being told that we have specimens cooking in the health laboratory, so we will be updating our case numbers daily,” Cieslack said.

Health officials advised people who have eaten at a Chipotle during October, and became ill with vomiting and bloody diarrhea, to see their health care providers and mention this outbreak.

The Oregon Health Authority, Washington State Department of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with local health departments in the Portland area and other Oregon counties on the outbreak investigation.

Chipotle has closed at least 14 of its restaurants in the Portland metro area (Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties) to assist public health agencies with their investigation.

A Chipotle spokesman told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday the Bend restaurant remains open. He had no information about a posted notice there about being out of lettuce.

Most people infected develop watery or bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps within one to 10 days, with the average three to four days. Most illnesses resolve on their own within seven days. Most people recover within a week but, rarely, some develop a severe type of kidney failure that can begin as the diarrhea is improving and is most common in children under 5 years old and the elderly.

Food from six Chipotle stores connected with the outbreak is being tested. The chain of casual Mexican restaurants has closed 43 restaurants in the two states.

Meanwhile, Washington state health officials have identified the specific microorganism responsible for the E. coli outbreak.

Dr. Scott Lindquist, state epidemiologist, said knowing the type of E. coli that’s sickened nearly two dozen people will help officials determine the exact source of the illness.

Food from six Chipotle stores connected with the outbreak is being tested. Lindquist said officials may know by Wednesday what type of food tests positive for the same microorganism. They’ve asked Chipotle to turn over information about its food suppliers so officials can determine where the product came from.