136 SWINE DISEASES 



Sore feet due to rough, hard roads and pens also 

 occasion some trouble in swine. This condition caused 

 more concern in former times, when swine were driven 

 considerable distances to market, than at the present 

 time. However, it also is a problem that confronts the 

 serum producers. 



About the only treatment is to provide ample, clean 

 bedding or turn the swine out to pasture. 



Fatty Degeneration 



Fatty degeneration of muscle tissue has been observed 

 in suckling pigs by various investigators. This disease 

 or condition is characterized by an extensive fatty 

 degeneration of the muscular tissue of the entire body. 

 The cause of this degeneration is not known, although 

 it may be a sequel of inbreeding. It affects pigs from 

 a few days old to three or four weeks of age. The muscle 

 has a white appearance, as if it had been cooked. Similar 

 changes may also be noted in the lymph glands, liver, 

 and kidneys. The affected pigs cease to nurse, lie on 

 the ground, are weak, and may have diarrhea. The 

 disease almost always terminates fatally, the pigs some- 

 times not even struggling when they die, but in other 

 instances convulsions precede death. Thus far no 

 medicinal treatment has proved of value, but the disease 

 may be prevented by proper care and the frequent 

 introduction of new breeding stock. 



Muscular Rheumatism 



Rheumatism may affect the muscular tissue, but 

 more frequently it affects articulations in swine. 



The cause of muscular rheumatism has not been 

 positively identified. No doubt undue exposure predis- 

 poses the animal to this condition, but there must also be 

 some active cause, such as infection or absorbed injurious 

 chemical substances. 



Lesions. Muscular rheumatism primarily affects the 

 connective tissue of the muscles. The lesion consists of 

 a serous or hemorrhagic infiltration between the muscle 



