Swine-plague 60 1 



worked out a system of protective vaccination in which the 

 fowls are first inoculated with attenuated, then with more 

 active, and finally with virulent, cultures, with resulting 

 protection and immunity. 



Use has been made of this bacillus to kill rabbits in Aus- 

 tralia, where they are pests. It is estimated that two gallons 

 of bouillon culture will destroy 20,000 rabbits, irrespective 

 of infection by contagion. 



The bacillus of chicken-cholera may be identical with 

 organisms found in various epidemic diseases of larger 

 animals, and, indeed, no little confusion has arisen from 

 the description of what is now pretty generally accepted to 

 be the same organism as the bacillus of rabbit septicemia 

 (Koch), Bacillus cuniculicida (Fliigge), bacillus of swine- 

 plague (Loffler and Schiitz), bacillus of "Wildseuche" 

 (Hiippe), bacillus of "Biiffelseuche" (Oriste-Armanni), etc. 



BACILLUS SUISEPTICUS (LOFFLER AND SCHUTZ). 



General Characteristics. A non-motile, non-flagellated, non- 

 sporogenous, non-liquefying, non-chromogenic, aerobic and optionally 

 anae'robic bacillus, pathogenic for hogs and many other animals, stain- 

 ing by the ordinary methods, but not by Gram's method. It produces 

 a slight acidity in milk, but does not coagulate it. 



The bacillus of swine-plague, or Bacillus suisepticus of 

 Loffler and Schiitz* and Salmon and Smith, f but slightly 

 resembles the bacillus of hog-cholera (q. v.), though it was 

 formerly confounded with it and at one time thought to be 

 identical with it. The species have sufficient well-marked 

 characteristics, however, to make their differentiation easy. 



Swine-plague is a rather common and exceedingly fatal 

 epidemic disease. It not infrequently occurs in association 

 with hog-cholera, and because of the lack of sufficiently well- 

 characterized symptoms sick hogs appearing more or less 

 alike is often mistaken for it. The confusion resulting from 

 such faulty diagnosis makes it difficult to determine exactly 

 how fatal either may be in uncomplicated cases. 



Morphology. The bacillus of swine-plague much re- 

 sembles that of hog-cholera, and not a little that of chicken- 

 cholera. It is a short organism, rather more slender than 



: "Arbeiten aus den kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte," I. 

 t "Zeitschrift f. Hygiene," x. 



