At least eight Boston College men's basketball players who were ill from potential food poisoning returned to practice Tuesday and the Eagles will be playing at No. 15 Providence Wednesday as scheduled.
On Wednesday Boston College confirmed in as email to the campus that 120 students had Norovirus, a highly contagious virus spread through contaminated food. Nearly all had eaten at a local Chipotle. Symptoms of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting can last 24-48 hours.
All the ill basketball players ate at a local Chipotle, which led to concern they could be suffering from E.coli. The national Mexican restaurant chain has been dealing with an outbreak of the gastrointestinal bacteria.
BC coaches were told not to comment on the matter on Monday, and the school issued a statement that day.
"Boston College has confirmed that several BC students and student-athletes, including members of the BC men's basketball team, have reported to BC Health Services complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms. The common factor among the students is that they had all eaten at the Chipotle restaurant in Cleveland Circle. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has been notified and is working to determine if there is a link to the ongoing national outbreak of E.coli. The Food and Drug Administration has issued information regarding this outbreak, which can be found on the FDA website."
"We cannot confirm a cause of the illness at this time, but we are coordinating with Boston public health officials to determine the cause," Scott Zoback, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, told the Associated Press.
Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., said in an email to the AP that the Boston restaurant has been closed temporarily while the company works with local health officials to investigate the illnesses. The company has no evidence to suggest the incident is related to previous cases, Arnold said, noting there have been no confirmed cases of E.coli connected to Chipotle in Massachusetts.
The Eagles lost to UMass-Lowell on Sunday. The Eagles were without Dennis Clifford, who was sick, and Eli Carter, who was out with an ankle injury. Boston College has lost five straight games after starting the season 3-0.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.