Butterball confirms Duplin Co. employee death

Butterball has confirmed the death of a person who worked at its Duplin County plant.

A company spokesman said they were informed Thursday "of the sudden passing of a valued team member at our Mount Olive plant, but have not been informed of the specific cause," a statement read.

Company documents obtained by WITN two weeks ago showed that 52 employees at the plant had tested positive for the virus.

Butterball says there are cases of coronavirus at the plant but will not say how many.

Duplin County now has 180 confirmed cases of the virus and three of those are now fatal cases.