ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 557 



To avoid this, hogs received via railroads should be quarantined 

 twenty days before being allowed to enter the herd, as they might develop 

 cholera from exposure in cars or in stock yards. This is oftentimes 

 the case on returning hogs to a herd after exhibiting at stock shows or 

 fairs, and should be remedied by quarantining upon arrival thereby in- 

 suring the remainder of the herd against exposure. 



SYAXPTOMS. 



Probably the first thing noticed by the attendant of the herd is a 

 partial or complete loss of appetite; at this stage the disease is often 

 well along in the incubation period, and in peracute cases death may 

 follow in from six to forty-eight hours, in the subacute or chronic form 

 we observe a longer chain of symptoms; such as loss of appetite, dull- 

 ness, fever; the higher the temperature, the more sluggish the animal 

 appears, and ft may lay drowsily around in the shed or buried in the 

 manure pile or straw for hours undisturbed by the surroundings. Con- 

 stipation or diarrhoea may be present in alternate attacks. Persistent 

 diarrhoea renders the animal very weak and artificial inoculation length- 

 ens the incubation period. He may stagger and fall helplessly, the 

 weakness being more apparent in the hind quarters, and the animal is 

 often unable to raise himself to his feet, and stands with his hind 

 legs in criss-cross fashion with the abdomen well tucked up. Breathing 

 is labored, quickened and shortened when mucous membranes of the 

 air passages are inflamed. Slight hemorrhages from the nostrils are 

 sometimes observed. Short hacking cough and occasionally slight attacks 

 of the thumps. The eyes may be swollen and inflamed and a purulent 

 sticky discharge glues the lids together making the animal blind. One 

 or both eyes may be affected. The skin of the abdomen, neck, thighs, 

 coronet, nose, ears may show redness, growing darker as death ap- 

 proaches, until finally at the time of death the affected areas of the skin' 

 are a dark purple. Sloughs of skin along the back are sometimes 

 observed leaving raw sores. The skin lesions are more clearly shown 

 in the Chester White and Yorkshire breeds. 



It should be understood that all cases of hog cholera do not show all 

 these symptoms. Some cases show one portion of the symptoms while 

 other cases show another, and if all the described symptoms do not hap- 

 pen to appear we are not justified in calling it some other disease, as all 

 cases of cholera are not typical. The outbreaks of hog cholera are com- 

 paratively easy to diagnose though in experimental inoculation of the 

 disease at the State Laboratory we have observed very little evidence 

 of typical cholera, and if we had not known the source of the disease, 

 would have hardly been justified in diagnosing it hog cholera. 



Suspected cases of hog cholera should be examined after death. The 

 person holding the post mortem should take antiseptic precautions with 

 his hands. Thoroughly disinfecting them before and after, and if re- 

 ceiving any cuts or scratches during the process stronger antiseptics or 

 mild cautery should be used on the part. Though hog cholera is not 



