Another Chipotle Closes Due To Norovirus

Chipotle lovers who also love food safety just can't catch a break.

A Chipotle restaurant near Boston closed on Tuesday after four employees fell sick, Bloomberg reports.

At least one of the employees in Billerica, Massachusetts was diagnosed with norovirus, the highly contagious stomach bug that leads to intestinal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

It isn't the same illness that shut down Chipotles in nine states last fall (that was E. coli) or the one that affected 64 people who ate at 22 Chipotle outlets in Minnesota (that was salmonella). But it is the same one that infected some 120 Boston College students who ate at Chipotle in December, as well as 80 customers and 17 employees of a Simi Valley, California, location last fall.

Norovirus is typically contracted from either an infected person or from contaminated food, water, or surfaces. Ick.

After its awful outbreak-filled 2015, Chipotle's sales plunged, and locations across the nation closed for a half-day last month to "discuss food safety changes." Some stores even started individually packaging lemons to cut back on contamination, inspiring other restaurants to install new health precautions, too.

No customers were reported sick at the Billerica location, which was promptly closed for inspection, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told HuffPost. The store is expected to reopen on Thursday, and sick employees will be held out of work until they recover.