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cause. Many hog raisers now pasteurize the milk before 

 feeding it to the pigs. This is the only sure preventative 

 against tubercular milk. 



Hog cholera. By far the worse disease scourge af- 

 fecting hogs is cholera. It not infrequently wipes out en- 

 tire herds within a few weeks. The average yearly loss 

 from hog cholera in Indiana is estimated at three million 

 dollars. In one single "cholera year" Iowa lost at least 

 twenty million dollars from this cause. Other states suffer 

 in like proportion. It is, therefore, of the highest import- 

 ance that the causes of cholera, and the modes of prevention 

 be well understood. 



Hog cholera is a germ sickness caught by infection 

 from hogs that have the disease. It is not necessary for 

 well animals to come in direct contact with cholera hogs 

 in order to catch the infection. The germs may be carried 

 by dogs ; by pigeons, crows, or other birds that alight in 

 the hog lot to pick up grain ; by men who have tramped 

 through a lot where cholera hogs have been; by new stock 

 brought into the herd; and by streams that have become 

 infected. When hog cholera is in the region, therefore, it 

 is necessary to observe every precaution to keep infection 

 away from the herd. 



Effects of cholera. The disease is so marked in its 

 symptoms that it is not hard to distinguish from most other 

 hog sicknesses. In hog cholera, the lymphatic glands, lungs, 

 intestines, kidneys and liver are highly inflamed. Red 

 blotches appear on the skin. Appetite is lost, the gait be- 

 comes staggering, the eyes inflamed. Not infrequently 

 bleeding at the nose and vomiting occur. The temperature 

 is usually from one hundred and seven to one hundred and 

 eight degrees Fahrenheit. The first ones of the herd to be 

 stricken commonly die within a few days ; those that take 

 the disease later may live for several weeks, or even recover. 



