MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Agriculture officials are investigating whether a cow from a Northeast Kingdom farm contracted bovine tuberculosis, but it could be two months before tests are complete, officials said Friday.

Two tests on the 6-year-old Holstein have indicated it was carrying tuberculosis but state Veterinarian Kerry Rood said it was unlikely the more comprehensive tests would prove the disease.

The animal initially was tested so it could be exported to Canada.

Despite confidence that the testing ultimately will show no presence of TB, the farm where the cow was first tested May 7 has been quarantined. That means livestock cannot move onto or off the farm, until the final tests are completed.

“My office routinely does additional testing on responders with no animals ultimately proven to have the disease,” Rood said Friday at a Montpelier news conference.

Rood and other officials refused to identify the farm where the cow originated.

Vermont has not had a confirmed case of TB in cattle since 1979, when the state was declared free of the disease.

The farm where the suspect case originated is still able to ship milk for human consumption. The pasteurization process of milk would kill any TB bacteria, said Deputy State Epidemiologist Susan Schoenfeld.

“She has not been confirmed to have the tuberculosis agent at this time so the risk to humans is very minimal,” said Rood.

Schoenfeld said that even if the cow were ultimately shown to have TB, there was little chance the people working around the animal could contract the ailment, which usually settles in the lungs.

“We really don’t expect this to be positive. Even if it was, however, there isn’t a risk to the general public from this cow,” Schoenfeld said.

Cattle that are shipped across state lines are routinely tested for TB. Rood said about 1 percent of all tests conducted come back positive for the disease. But additional tests clear the animal.

Rood said the initial tests on 89 head of cattle on the Northeast Kingdom farm returned two positives. One cow had a positive result for presence of the disease in a follow-up test. That cow is going to be put down so further tests can be conducted on its carcass.

Even though false positives are routine, if rare, officials from the Agency of Agriculture and Department of Health held a news conference Friday to discuss the issue after a news report surfaced about the case.

“It’s become public information in a way that could cause a lot of concern,” Schoenfeld said. “I think there’s plenty of possibilities of people having unfounded concerns or being afraid of the disease and the impact.”

AP-ES-05-18-07 1604EDT