After E. Coli Outbreak Hospitalizes Several Customers, Chipotle Closes 43 Restaurants

Chipotle has closed 43 of its restaurants in Oregon and Washington after 22 cases of E. coli surfaced and were reportedly linked to the popular burrito chain.

According to a news release from the Washington State Department of Health, although no deaths have occurred due to the outbreak, eight of the cases have resulted in hospitalization. The statement also said that "local and state health officials in Washington and Oregon are investigating" the outbreak to determine exact source of contamination.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE from Chipotle's company spokesperson Chris Arnold, the outbreak has been tied to just six of the company's restaurants in the area, but they closed a total of 43 restaurants just to be safe.

"The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our highest priority," Arnold said. "After being notified by health department officials in the Seattle and Portland, Oregon, 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.