780 noAUD OF .\(;iM( I i.iTKi:. 



UndtT some cii-cuiiislMiict's I Ix'licvc tin- wind iii;iy ho tlif lu'tiifr of 

 goniis. If the germs l)i' (lisiiiliut'd mIoii-:; a pul)lic highway by the n'li- 

 tleriiig wagon and beconie niixe«l with the dust it is possible and nilo- 

 getiier prol)al)k^ tliat tliey may l)e blown on tlie pasture or on the feed 

 lot and thus convey disease. 1 have seen a few outl)ieaks continue in 

 one direction for several days after a constant prevailing wind from tiie 

 southwest. The evidence in this case seemed to point to the wind as 

 the distril)Uting agent. In such cases the germs fall in the water or are 

 taken in with the food. 



Hog cholera is often contracted as a result of buying hogs from stock- 

 yards for feeding purposes. This is such a common experience that only 

 the strong-lieaded or uninitiated will be likely to take the risk. The 

 large stockyards and the majority of shipping cars are permanently in- 

 fected with disease, and no matter how healthy the hogs may have 

 lieen when they started from home they come in contact with infection 

 and should never be witlulrawn from the yards for feeding purjxises. 

 We have recorded many outbreaks in this way. It has been claimed tliat 

 tlie shipping of diseased hogs over the railroad may be the means of 

 causiTig new out])reaks of disiase. I made this a particular object of 

 research in 1895 and ISiHi, but in no case have I been able to find more 

 cholera along railroad lines than at a distance of a mile or two upon 

 either side. Under the preseut method of Uaving the right of way 

 fenced, I feel certain that the infection from this source is overrated. 



It would be useless to try to go into detail concerning all the methods 

 by which the disease is distributed. Any means by Avhich the germs are 

 carried from one place to another can be considered an accessory cabse. 

 All of these means are not under our control, but many are, and we will 

 succeed in prevention in the same measure as we eliminate them. 



Symptoms.— The diagnosis of the different swine diseases is attended 

 with greater difl^ulties than the diagnosing of diseases in horses an<l 

 cattle. Kxcept upon very careful examination the general symptoms of 

 swine diseases seem to be very much tlie same. Cliolera assumes several 

 different forms and therefore can not Ije recognized by any specific set 

 of symptoms. 



The symptoms vary greatly with the virulence of the outlireak. It 

 may be said to assume an acute form which may run a coiu'se in from a 

 few hours to two or five days, a subacute form which runs its cour.se in 

 from five to ten days, and a chronic form which may last a month or 

 more. These are only relative terms and merely used for convenience in 

 describing the disease. The symptoms as here described are for the more 

 common cases that live from five to ten days. About the first symptom 

 to be observed is a general sluggish condition, the eyes more or less 

 closed and dimmed, the ears drop more than usual, and although the hog 

 eats, it is not with the greediness that is customary. The ai)petite be- 

 comes depraved, and he will eat the droppings from other hogs or chick- 



