Geoffrey Ingersoll

A nasty outbreak of E. Coli has forced Chipotle to close dozens of stores in multiple states.

Chipotle has closed 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon because of the outbreak since many people affected said they ate at the restaurant before getting sick, Fox News Latino reports. So far, 22 people have been affected, eight of them hospitalized since the outbreak began Oct. 14, but experts expect it may only get worse.

“We actually would expect there might be a jump in cases on Monday,” Marisa D’Angeli, medical epidemiologist at the Washington State Department of Health, told the Associated Press.

In fact, the number affected is likely higher than 22.

“Many people affected with Shiga toxin E. coli may not seek health care, so the number of people made ill by this outbreak is likely more than identified,” the Oregon Health Autority said in a statement. “Health officials want people who have eaten at a Chipotle between October 14 and 23, and become ill with vomiting and bloody diarrhea, to see their health care provider and mention this outbreak.”

The outbreak is contained to four counties on the West Coast, and for now it has not been linked to any other restaurants.

“After being notified by health department officials in the Seattle and Portland areas that they were investigating approximately 20 cases of E. coli, including people who ate at six of our restaurants in those areas, we immediately closed all of our restaurants in the area out of an abundance of caution, even though the vast majority of these restaurants have no reported problems,” Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told The Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “We are working with health department officials to determine the cause of this issue.”

No one has died in the outbreak so far. Ashley Arellano of Gladstone, Oregon told KGW News she got sick after eating at a Chipotle.

“My body was in aches, and pains. I was nauseous, I couldn’t hold anything down. I couldn’t eat anything,” she said.

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