284 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 May, 1919. 



Tt must be remerabered that belladonna checks the secretion of milk, and 

 if applied for several days may entirely dry it up. 



Swine Fever. 



Swine fever is the most serious disease in pigs that is known, and 

 the annual loss in countries in which it is present is enormous. It is 

 estimated that in America the loss amounts to £16,000,000 per anmun. 

 In Victoria it caused havoc some years ago, but the measures taken 

 were efficient, and it is now some time since an outbreak was reported. 

 In the interest of the industry, it behoves every pig-farmer to be on 

 guard, and to report to the Chief Veterinary Officer any suspicious cases. 



Professor Sir John McFadyan's investigations go to show that the 

 disease is not caused by the so-called swine fever bacillus, as was for- 

 merly thought, though this organism is almost always present in the 

 blood of pigs seriously ill with swine fever. It is caused by ultra-micro- 

 scopic bacteria that will pass through the filter. This organism has not 

 been cultivated outside the body of the pig. By feeding or inoculating 

 with a pure culture of the so-called swine fever bacillus, pigs may be 

 made ill or fatally affected, and post-Tnortem appearance of intestines 

 appear identical with swine fever, but pigs recovering from the disease 

 due to inoculation with this culture are not immune from swine fever, 

 nor do they pass on the. disease to other pigs kept in contact. 



The blood from a swine fever -pig can cause swine fever in a healthy 

 pig, although so-called swine fever bacillus is absent, as is always the 

 case in early stages of swine fever. When the bacillus was present in 

 swine fever blood, the latter remained infective after these bacilli had 

 been removed by filtration or killed by disinfectants. 



Through the blood the virus is diffused throughout the whole of the 

 organs and tissues of the body, in the alimentary canal and urine. 



The disease is mainly spread by contact, and may be carried by 

 faeces, urine, discharge from eyes, lungs, skin, &c. 



Symptoms. — The temperature normally is 102 degrees to 103 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, and in swine fever generally rises 3 or 4 degrees. This rise 

 generally takes seven to ten days after infection, but may be two days 

 after. This rise in temperature is not only the first discoverable evi- 

 dence of infection, but also the most constant, since it may be detected 

 in mild cases, in which outward symptoms of actual illness are never 

 exhibited. The actual symptoms are loss of appetite, dullness, unwilling- 

 ness to move, and inclination to burrow into litter if plentiful. Usually 

 the sickness is m.ost pronounced in the second week after natural infec- 

 tion. Diarrhoea is often, but not always, present. In fatal cases, rapidly- 

 increased weakness and hindquarters swaying when walking are notice- 

 able symptoms. The animals are usually thirsty, but always refuse 

 food. Sometimes a reddish or livid colouration of the skin is noticeable. 

 The affected pigs may develop a cough, or rapid breathing, due to pneu- 

 monia — a fairly frequent complication. Sometimes they display no out- 

 ward symptoms. Death, as a rule, takes place not less than a Aveek after 

 the first symptoms, but may be only two or three days, and, on the other 

 hand, frequently it may not be for several weeks. 



It is possible that some animals recover incompletely, and becom? 

 carriers. 



