Smithfield Foods has announced that its Sioux Falls, South Dakota facility will remain closed until further notice due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among employees.

The plant is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the U.S., representing four to five percent of U.S. pork production.

Smithfield President and CEO Kenneth Sullivan says with a number of shutdowns across the country, the U.S. could be on the brink of a meat shortage.