Boston College (BC) is dealing with a rash of norovirus linked to one local Chipotle restaurant.
Jack Dunn, a spokesman for BC, told USA Today College almost all the more than 120 students with the norovirus told the school's health department they had eaten at the area's Chipotle restaurant.
Chipotle has dealt with cases of E. coli among customers at stores in New York, Maryland, and California, so some initial reports classified the BC norovirus outbreak as E. coli. The Cleveland Circle Chipotle location closed on Tuesday and remained closed Wednesday while a health investigation takes place.
According to The Heights, BC's student-run newspaper, eight members of the school's men's basketball team were affected by the norovirus outbreak. Thomas Nary, a physician at BC, told the rest of the school's student-athletes in an email to avoid the Chipotle restaurant due to the outbreak.
"The pattern here looks like norovirus isolated to one restaurant," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told Reuters.
It is unclear if the BC outbreak is the result of the restaurant's food, as The Heights learned the school's Health Services department traced the illness to an employee of the Cleveland Circle store.
Norovirus normally affects people that live and eat in close quarters for a period of time, like on a cruise or at a hospital, Reuters reported. But due to the classrooms, residence halls, and public spaces, college campuses are also high risk.
"Colleges are a closed community, we were able to spot a trend and alert the Department of Public Health," Nary told The Heights. "Preliminary tests are confirming that norovirus is the culprit, though we continue to test for any other pathogen."
