Chipotle Stock Falls After Tweets About Alleged Manhattan E. Coli Incident

Chipotle’s stock is plummeting after reports of an E. coli incident early Thursday morning, Business Insider reports. Twitter user (and fantasy/thriller novelist) Eric Van Lustbader tweeted that a friend had fallen ill after eating at a Manhattan Chipotle. "This Chipotle thing is still ongoing," he writes. "My editor ended up in urgent care after being deathly ill all night from eating at Chipotle's." Since this morning’s tweet, Business Insider notes that the burrito chain’s stock has fallen 3.5 percent. And while Twitter users are blaming Van Lustbader for sabotaging Chipotle, Twitter user James Chu is sharing a similar story saying "I was also sick all weekend after eating Chipotle in Manhattan." Chu adds "[I] Ate at Chipotle's 56th street location..."

This Chipotle thing is still ongoing. My editor ended up in urgent care after being deathly ill all night from eating at Chipotle's.

— Eric Van Lustbader (@EVanLustbader) July 7, 2016

Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold tells Business Insider that while the company is aware of the tweets, there are "no reports of illnesses at any New York restaurants." Arnold adds: "We have excellent health department scores throughout the city, and we continue to have the highest standards of food safety in our restaurants." Chipotle saw a similar drop in sales (23.4 percent) earlier this year when a 2015 E. coli outbreak caused more than 50 people across the US to be sick.