204 HOG CHOLEKA 



slaughter. Nor is the danger terminated when 

 the hogs reach the shambles. An impression pre- 

 vails that in establishments where meat inspec- 

 tion regulations are in force, carcasses that con- 

 tain hog cholera virus are condemned, and those 

 that do not contain it are passed for food. This 

 is not the case. Many carcasses that contain the 

 virus readily pass inspection, and although they 

 are perfectly fit for human food, trimmings from 

 them regularly find their way into garbage, and 

 when this is fed to susceptible hogs, they, in turn, 

 contract disease. It is a vicious cycle, and one 

 very difficult to break. 



When a consignment of hogs from a cholera 

 infected herd reaches an establishment where fed- 

 eral meat inspection regulations are in force it is 

 first subjected to ante-mortem inspection. With 

 respect to hog cholera it may contain five classes 

 of hogs: first, dead hogs; these are condemned 

 and tanked: second, hogs that show undoubted 

 symptoms of cholera; these also are condemned 

 and tanked: third, those that show suspicious 

 symptoms and temperatures below 106 F., these 

 are slaughtered ; carcasses that show hog cholera 

 lesions are condemned or passed for sterilization 

 according to the extent of the lesions; those that 

 show no lesions are passed for food : fourth, hogs 

 apparently normal, and those which show suspi- 

 cious symptoms, having temperatures above 106 



