Lowes carries Plant Delights, Monrovia and Proven Winners, all brands that 'local' nurseries sell (not big box stores), they literally deliver them off the same truck to a mom and pop nursery and a Lowes on the same day, I have seen it. So Lowes and other big box stores are no more likely to carry a diseased plant than any other place selling plants. Buying from a private owned nursery does not prevent it.
