The latest in the Chipotle Saga: All Chipotle restaurants will close from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 8 for a general meeting to discuss food safety after outbreaks of E. coli, Salmonella and norovirus occurred all over the country.

The outbreaks started in October 2015 and spread across the Pacific Northwest with the majority happening in Washington and Oregon. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 53 people have been infected with E. coli across nine states since Nov. 14. However, this statistic doesn’t include the hundreds of Chipotle customers who were victims of six confirmed food-borne illnesses including norovirus, Salmonella and several different strains of E. coli. A Chipotle in Minnesota was directly linked with 64 cases of salmonella, caused by their tomatoes. However, the cause of the other outbreaks is still being investigated.

According to the CDC there are 265,000 cases of E. coli in the United States annually, and one in every six Americans gets sick every year because of food or drink. E. coli is a bacteria that can cause symptoms like diarrhea. In extreme cases, it can lead to death. E. coli can get into food in a variety of ways: during meat processing, in dairy products or through food that has come in contact with feces — which happens surprisingly often. According to the CDC, “Sometimes the contact is pretty obvious (working with cows at a dairy or changing diapers, for example), but sometimes it is not (like eating an undercooked hamburger or a contaminated piece of lettuce).”

Chipotle’s sales have dropped and its stock has plummeted almost 40 percent due to the incidents. In addition, a lawsuit has been filed against the company. However, Chipotle’s founder Steve Ells said he expects the outbreaks to soon come to an end. Chipotle press releases said that no more exposure-related illnesses have occurred after early November and that aggressive actions have been implemented regarding food safety and handling practices in all of its restaurants. The press releases further reported that since the incident began, Chipotle has continued to serve more than 1 million customers a day without incident.

A version of this article appeared in the Jan. 25 print edition. Email Monica Hanna at [email protected].