REPORT OF IOWA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION 427 



excessively tight houses where air becomes bad and floors damp before 

 morning, or it may be seen under directly reverse conditions such as a 

 floor up off of the ground that is as a result cold and thus causes the 

 hogs to pile up to keep warm. Either this or the drafty floor due to roof 

 cupolas and open doors that keep constant air currents playing over the 

 herd while they try to sleep. See that your swine have plenty of sleeping 

 space well bedded, not close and stuffy and not drafty. In properly ven- 

 tilated buildings few cases of flu or pneumonia occur and a fatality is 

 rare indeed, but cold winds over the floors where hogs are sleeping often 

 results in trouble. 



III. Necrobacillosis 



Chronic hog cholera, diptheretic, enteritis, necrotec enteritis and mixed 

 infection of the intestines are names given to a disease that occurs some- 

 where along the digestive tube from mouth to intestinal tract. 



Its cause is the accumulation of too much filth by the young pig as he 

 grows. If it lodges in wounds of the gums, it multiplies, honeycombs the 

 jawbone and produces enlargements of the face that stockmen often call 

 "bull-nose" or pressing in on the nostril impairs the breathing and is 

 named "sniffles." Many cases occur where the organisms do the greatest 

 damage to the intestinal tube causing inflammation of a greater or lesser 

 extent which may appear as a simple redness or a thickening of the in- 

 testinal wall. More severe cases show sloughing patches of whitish or 

 yellow diptheretic membranes and flakes of yellow pus. Such pigs may 

 eat at times and at other times be off feed. They may show scouring 

 and diarrhea alternated with constipation, but because of the inability 

 of the sore intestine to digest food and absorb it the most pronounced 

 symptom is progressive emaciation, stunted growth, and in many cases 

 death. Some forms of this disease have been mistaken for hog cholera 

 and indeed the two infections may be coincident in the herd. Vaccina- 

 tion of pigs suffering from necrotic enteritis with the simultaneous treat- 

 ment for cholera usually results in death to a large number. This has 

 accounted for some so-called serum breaks. For this disease there is no 

 specific. Vaccines have been widely used both as preventive and curative 

 treatment. In our observation they are worthless and sometimes do a 

 positive damage by increasing the death loss. 



Prevention of the occurrence of this disease is possible. To accom- 

 plish it, rotate the pigs to new land often. Abolish the mud-hole, espe- 

 cially for the sow with her litter suckling. Provide clean water and clean 

 feed in clean troughs or water-fountains that pigs cannot wash the feet 

 in before eating and drinking. Mild cases may be checked if seen and 

 treated in the early stages by the use of weak solutions of copper sul- 

 phate or acetic acid in water at intervals of a few days, but prevention 

 is much easier and more satisfactory. 



In conclusion, we have perhaps three infections among swine to con- 

 tend with. Two of them can largely be prevented by making surround- 

 ings and conditions favorable for the development of thrift in the pigs. 

 Feeds that are clean, fed in clean places, rations well-balanced with 

 plenty of proteins, especially for the growing pig and breeding animals. 

 Clean yards to minimize chances of infection and to check parasites 



