No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. nS 



The temperature charts and autopsy records are on file. From the 

 results obtained, "544" is of no value, either as prophylactic or cura- 

 tive aj?ent for the ticatnu'iit of cholera in hogs. 



Ordinarily lioj;' cholera is easily (liajj,nosed from its history and 

 symptoms. When a number of hogs have died in a herd the cause 

 can safely be attributed to hog cholera. Occasionally mistakes are 

 made. Tlie average man is less likely to recognize the disease when 

 it does occur than he is to diagnose some other disease as cholera. 



In one case during the year a diagnosis of hog cholera was made 

 by the local veterinarian and subsequently it was learned that the 

 hogs had what is known as cottonseed meal poisoning. It is not a 

 common custom to feed cottonseed meal to hogs in this State and for 

 this reason it is not generally known that it is not safe to feed it in 

 a comparatively large amount for a long period at a time. The 

 owner of the herd in question had been feeding a mixed grain ration 

 consisting of one part cottonseeji meal to seven parts of cob meal 

 and wheat bran combined for a period of about three months. The 

 hogs were in what appeared to be fine physical condition. Suddenly 

 they began to die mysteriously. In many cases they would eat one 

 meal and appear well but would die before the next feeding time. 

 They had a high fever and difficult breathing a short time previous 

 to death. They apparently died from suffocation. On autopsy they 

 showed an enormous amount of straw colored serum in the cavity 

 around the lungs but no lesions common to hog cholera. A sample 

 of the food was taken to the State Farm and fed to four hogs. They 

 did well for about three months on this food and then died with the 

 symptoms and lesions mentioned above. The losses in the original 

 herd ceased as soon as the cottonseed meal was removed from the 

 ration. This is similar to beriberi, a disease in the human family 

 caused by eating highly milled rice. 



The following table shows the statistics of hog cholera in the 

 State during the two years : 



