By CARL SAMPSON

Capital Press

A state official says 11 dairy cows at a Moses Lake, Wash., dairy, have shown signs of bovine TB in screening, but the remaining cows — about 1,350 — showed no signs of the disease.

Further testing will be required to determine if the cows actually have the disease.

This is a much lower percentage than veterinarians expected, Hector Castro, communications director for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said. “A typical response rate is between 1 and 4 percent. This is less than 1 percent.”

The 11 cows will be removed from the herd for further testing to determine whether they actually have the disease, he said.

The 60 cows at an adjacent facility were also cleared of the disease, he said, but some younger cattle will be tested in the coming weeks.

WSDA and USDA veterinarians are still working to track down cattle that may have come in contact with infected animals, he said.

Officials earlier this week cleared of bovine TB all 300 cows at a dairy in Monroe, Wash. 

A cow from the Moses Lake dairy had shown symptoms of bovine TB when it was sent to slaughter at a Cowlitz County plant. 

The cow had been bought a year ago from the Monroe dairy.