BOSTON -- State officials are working to track down as many as nine rescued puppies that were illegally brought into Massachusetts last weekend.

On Friday, after Team 5 Investigates reported on new cases of parvo sickening adopted puppies, the state ordered an immediate ban on new arrivals from two specific online adoption agencies.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported Tuesday the puppies went out to families in Massachusetts without going through the mandatory 48-hour quarantine. State officials said these pets should be taken to a vet immediately.

Ruby and Milly, the two adopted puppies put in isolation last week with the dog virus parvo, died Sunday. Their cases caused state animal health officials to issue a cease-and-desist order against the online adoption agencies Paw Safe and Haven Puppy Rescue, of Tennessee, until an investigation is completed.

Both were told to stop bringing rescued dogs into or out of Massachusetts. While Paw Safe stopped in mid-transport, state regulators said Haven Puppy Rescue did not.

"They had animals en-route. We gave them the option of turning around, finding another facility out of state or in state," said Brad Mitchell, of the Bureau of Animal Health.

Officials with the Bureau of Animal Health said that they believe Haven Puppy Rescue brought as many as nine dogs to Massachusetts and sold them.

"Subsequent phone conversations, we, frankly, didn't get a straight answer from them. At one point, they told us they turned around, and at another point somebody down there, this is in Tennessee, told us that the animals were brought to people who adopted them over the Internet," Mitchell said.

Rescued animals often come from poor conditions. Animal health officials worry the puppies Haven Puppy Rescue sold have any number of diseases.

"In this case it's parvo. It's mainly a dog disease, but there's rabies and there are public health issues with this. There is (distemper) and other diseases that are much more problematic than this," Mitchell said.

Eleven dogs have died from parvo in the last six weeks. It isn't known whether any of the nine dogs sold by Haven Puppy Rescue after the cease-and-desist order have the disease.

"We do want to stay on top of this, and while we want to support rescues and saving dogs, it has to be done properly," Mitchell said.

The other issue is cost. According to its Web site, the Haven Puppy Rescue sells each puppy for $350. If any of the dogs are sick, vet bills, especially for treating parvo, have cost new owners several thousand dollars.

Haven Puppy Rescue did not return Team 5's calls and e-mails for a comment.