I never liked Chipotle. How can that much smugness and superiority be crammed into one restaurant in Manhattan, Kansas?

But when Amy was pregnant with Sorenne, she had Chipotle cravings and I would dutifully comply.

(I had a brief procedure at the hospital this a.m. that involved knocking me out, and when the nurse informed me I could go and Amy was there to pick me up, she asked if I wanted to finish my tea. I said, no, she’s here, I better go.

She said I was an obedient husband.

I said no, just learned a — little –bit over the years).

After 23 cases of what is apparently E. coli O26 linked to Chipotle restaurants led to the voluntary temporary closure of 43 of its Pacific Northwest eateries, shares in the company went down.

“We assume this outbreak is much broader than we’ve seen,” said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, Oregon‘s state health officer and epidemiologist.

JoNel Aleccia of The Seattle Times reports that in Oregon, health officials say they’ve identified the outbreak strain as E. coli O26, one of several types of Shiga toxin-producing bacteria that can cause severe illness. E. coli O26 was linked to an outbreak tied to raw clover sprouts that sickened 33 people who ate at Jimmy John’s restaurants in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington officials have not yet named the specific bug.

“Right now, we don’t know whether all of the cases identified are even going to turn out to be the same strain,” said Dr. Marisa D’Angeli, Washington state medical epidemiologist. Some cases may turn out to be E. coli O157:H7, a strain often associated with undercooked ground beef, while others may be E. coli O26 — or something else.

Washington state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist says more people are being tested.

Laura Ries, president of Atlanta marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries, said the decision to immediately close the 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon will help the brand in the long term. She says the chain “went above and beyond what they needed to do.

Attorney Bill Marler of Seattle law firm Marler Clark who is involved in other lawsuits against Chipotle restaurants, agreed, and says people should not assume a company that focuses on local and fresh ingredients is going to be immune from food safety issues.

But he says three cases of foodborne illness in a few months shows Chipotle is not paying attention to food safety like it should.

In September, more than 60 people who ate at Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota were sickened by Salmonella, and in August, nearly 100 customers and staff were infected by norovirus at a Chipotle restaurant in Simi Valley, California.

One new case was reported in Oregon on Monday, bringing the case count in the state to four people, including two who were hospitalized. There were no new cases in Washington state, where 19 have been sickened, including seven hospitalized.

“This is a refreshing company to work with,” Lindquist said. “They want to get to the bottom of this.”

Health officials suspect a produce item was to blame, such as leafy greens, tomatoes, cilantro or parsley. Beef is also associated with E. coli, which lives in the intestinal tracts of cattle. But it’s highly unlikely that all six locations failed to thoroughly cook the meat, Marler said.

Heat kills E. coli. But produce is eaten raw. If it’s contaminated, it’s difficult to clean it with water.