On Friday, Blue Bell Ice Cream announced that it is halting operations at its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, plant temporarily due to listeria concerns.

Listeria is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. The disease primarily affects pregnant women, newborns, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms of a listeria infection are fever and muscle aches, sometimes associated with diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Last month, the health officials and company revealed that a 3-ounce cup of ice cream contaminated with listeriosis was traced to a plant in Broken Arrow.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended people not to consume any Blue Bell brand products made at the company's Oklahoma facility

The ice cream product, which contains cups of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla has been recalled and is not being sold in retail locations and hospitals in 23 states.

Consumers were warned not to eat a specific 3-ounce serving of Blue Bell ice cream commonly sold to institutions by public health officials. The containers are marked with the letters O, P, Q, R, S or T behind the coding date.

The company mentioned that it's working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to examine the facility. Although, the company officials didn't reveal how long the plant will be closed, it will likely return to operation once their investigation is complete.

The company said "We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution to ensure that we are doing everything possible to provide our consumers with safe products and to preserve the trust we have built with them and their families for more than a century.

In March, the company recalled ten products from a production line at a plant in Brenham, Texas, the company's headquarters.