SAN ANTONIO, Texas Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries, which stopped production and distribution of ice cream to 25 states in April after the discovery of listeria bacteria, said on Friday that listeria was discovered again in a production facility. 
 
 The company did not specify in a statement in which of its three facilities listeria had been found but said that none was found in any of its ice cream. Blue Bell said it is moving to eliminate the bacteria through a "seek and destroy" process. 
 
 "We expect to periodically find microbiological indications in our facilities," said Blue Bell, which declined comment beyond the statement. The company credited its "enhanced, robust testing system" for why it found the bacteria. 
 
 The company noted that because listeria is commonly found in the natural environment, "no manufacturer can ever assume it will be entirely eradicated." 
 
 Blue Bell, ranked the No. 1 ice cream brand in the country in 2014, recalled all products last spring after 10 reported cases of listeria in four states were linked to Blue Bell frozen treats. Three of the people sickened, all hospital patients in Kansas, later died. 
 
 The disease, caused by eating food contaminated with listeria, primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 Blue Bell suspended production at its plants in Brenham, Texas; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Sylacauga, Alabama last spring and said it conducted a major overhaul of production at all three plants. 
 
 Blue Bell laid off or furloughed hundreds of employees as a result of the shutdown. 
 
 Starting in November, the company began a phased process of returning its ice cream to store shelves. The company said the next phase of the process, in which ice cream will be distributed in Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, and Virginia, will proceed as planned. 
 
 (Reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Steve Orlofsky) 

 Story highlights The discovery shows enhanced testing procedures are working, Blue Bell says 
 
 It emphasizes it has found no confirmed cases of listeria 
 
 Blue Bell recalled all products nationwide last year after a fatal listeria outbreak 
 
 (CNN) Blue Bell Creameries, which is recovering from a nationwide recall prompted by a fatal listeria outbreak, says enhanced testing of its facilities has found locations where suspected listeria may be present. 
 
 The ice cream company said the new discoveries show its testing procedures are working, and it is now extensively cleaning and sanitizing the suspect areas. 
 
 Blue Bell emphasized that it has found no confirmed cases of listeria 
 
 Correction A previous version of this story incorrectly characterized the contents of a Blue Bell statement on its product-safety efforts. The Blue Bell statement, reflected in this updated story, refers only to the company having "... identified locations where suspected Listeria species may be present ... " and says that the company "... continues to extensively clean and sanitize those areas ... " 
 
 "The entire purpose of our enhanced environmental testing is to identify locations where bacteria could be found in our facility in order to properly clean and sanitize the surface and prevent contamination," Blue Bell said in a statement Friday. 
 
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– Only a week after the US Justice Department announced it was investigating Blue Bell Creameries over a fatal listeria outbreak last spring, the ice cream maker revealed the bacteria had again been found in one of its facilities, Reuters reports. Blue Bell stopped production and issued a mass recall in April after it was linked to 10 cases of listeria, three of which proved to be fatal. It had only recently started getting its products back into stores. According to CNN, Blue Bell planned to start shipping its products to Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida on Jan. 18. "We expect to periodically find microbiological indications in our facilities," Reuters quotes a statement released Friday by Blue Bell. The company says it was able to find the listeria this time because of an "enhanced, robust testing system" put in place after the outbreak in April. According to CNN, Blue Bell says its products currently in stores are safe to eat. "Since our plants reopened, we have tested and will continue to test every batch of ice cream produced, and no products produced have tested positive for listeria," CNN quotes the company's statement.