CHEYENNE, Wyo. – State and federal officials have launched an investigation in the possibility of a second cow testing positive for brucellosis.

If the diagnosis is confirmed, Wyoming could be the second state to lose its disease-free status. Montana lost its disease-free status last week.

Officials have preliminarily traced the recent detection of an infected cow at a Nebraska slaughterhouse to a herd in Wyoming's Sublette County, a rural area about 100 miles southeast of Yellowstone National Park, state veterinarian Walter Cook reportedly said Monday.

Wyoming has been classified as brucellosis-free since September 2006, after losing the status in 2004. The disease reappeared in June when two cows from the Daniel area of Sublette County tested positive for the infection at a sale barn. The owner of those cattle has reportedly decided to slaughter the herd.

Brucellosis has been eliminated in most American cattle, but it remains endemic in buffalo, elk and other animals in Yellowstone National Park.

Source: Associated Press