Chipotle in Sterling, Virginia closes after customers get sick with norovirus-like symptoms

STERLING, Va. - A Chipotle restaurant has temporarily closed in Loudoun County after a number of customers reportedly fell ill after eating there.

According to Chipotle, customers who ate at their restaurant on Tripleseven Road in Sterling, Virginia, fell ill with symptoms consistent with norovirus.

The restaurant was voluntarily closed for sanitization and Chipotle said it was working with health authorities to get the restaurant reopened, which is expected to happen on Wednesday.

In a statement, Chipotle said in part, "The reported symptoms are consistent with norovirus. Norovirus does not come from our food supply, and it is safe to eat at Chipotle."

One woman told FOX 5 that her son works at the Sterling restaurant. They both ate there on Friday and later became sick. Her son had to be treated for dehydration at the emergency room.

The Loudoun County Health Department is waiting on lab results to confirm if this illness was norovirus. They inspected the restaurant on Tuesday and are working to find the source.

"We take every report of illness seriously," Chipotle said. "In accordance with our established protocols, our team is working to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, including voluntarily closing the restaurant yesterday to conduct a complete sanitization."

Chipotle stock dropped more than 4 percent Tuesday afternoon after the latest health scare, an issue that has plagued the company over the past couple years after it suffered an E.coli outbreak in several states in the fall of 2015.

Chipotle's shares fell $17.02 on Tuesday and closed at $374.98.

The CDC says norovirus is a "very contagious virus" that "causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed," which leads people to suffer from "stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up."