Nearly 150 virus cases tied to Green Bay meatpacking plant

Nearly 150 employees and family members of workers at the JBS Packerland meatpacking plant in Green Bay have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Brown County Health Department said Wednesday.

In addition to the 147 cases tied to that plant, county health officials said there were another 39 cases tied to American Foods Group and 19 to sausage maker Salm Partners in nearby Denmark.

All of the plants remain open. Meatpacking facilities in other states that have seen spikes in cases have shut down.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was helping to investigate the outbreak in Green Bay.

The cluster of cases tied to JBS appears to be the largest of its kind in Wisconsin.

More than half of the 402 confirmed coronavirus cases in Brown County are linked to food processing plants. Brown County is the fourth most populated county in the state but it now has the second-highest number of cases, jumping ahead of Dane County but behind Milwaukee County.