CHAPTER II 



NATURE AND CAUSE OF HOG CHOLEBA 



HOG cholera is an acute, communicable, febrile 

 disease which attacks swine of all breeds and ages, 

 but does not affect other domesticated animals, or 

 man. It is a septicemia. Occasionally a per- 

 acute form of the disease is recognized during the 

 first days of an outbreak and chronic hog cholera 

 is frequently observed among the stragglers that 

 survive the more severe and rapidly terminating 

 forms. In the individual, the disease is charac- 

 terized by sudden onset, inappetence, chilling^ 

 very high fever, arched back, a disposition to hide 

 in the litter, constipation followed by diarrhea, 

 general weakness in the later stages, accompanied 

 by purplish discolorations of the skin covering the 

 belly, ears and snout. In the herd, the onset is 

 relatively slow, the first death usually preceding 

 subsequent ones several days, but after the first 

 week the outbreak rapidly gains momentum, and 

 in a comparatively short time all hogs become in- 

 fected. The mortality ranges between 80 and 100 

 per cent with a strong tendency to approach the 

 latter figure. 



