182 DISEASES OF SWINE 



sometimes, but it will also often mean the saving of thousands of 

 dollars, both for the man who goes to this trouble and also to his 

 neighbors; for once an outbreak of cholera gets started in a 

 neighborhood there is no telling when or where it is going to 

 stop. 



Symptoms of Chronic Cholera. — As has already been stated, the 

 symptoms of chronic cholera are often very hard to notice. The 

 disease comes on quite slowly, and there is no stormy onset with 

 severe symptoms, such as sometimes marks the more violent out- 

 breaks of the acute type. About the first thing that is noticed 

 as anything wrong is some slight change in the appetite. The 

 appetite is not entirely lost, as a rule, and yet the animal is noted 

 not to be eating just right in some way or other. For a day or two 

 the sick animal may appear to eat as usual, and the very next day 

 refuse food almost entirely. Again, there are cases where the 

 appetite appears to be lost only for certain articles of food. For 

 instance, in some cases the animal will refuse to eat corn, but eats 

 other articles of food with fairlj^ good relish. 



As in the acute form of the disease, there is usually an early 

 disappearance of the natural healthy kink of the tail. This organ 

 simply straightens out and hangs lifeless, instead of being curled up 

 over the back as it naturally is in a healthy hog. It is a pretty 

 good rule to follow that so long as the tail of the pig is carried 

 over the back in a curl, and the appetite remains good, the pig 

 is in a healthy condition. It is one of the first signs of disease when 

 the tail loses its curl, and usually about the same time there will 

 be found to be a change in the appetite. 



With the onset of a chronic cholera outbreak, if the animals 

 that are a little off on their feed are watched closely, it will be 

 found that they are beginning to lose a great deal of their natural 

 liveliness and energy. They forage about less than usual, and they 

 do not care to partake in the liveliness and playfulness of the other 

 young hogs in the same pasture with them. Instead of this natural 

 vigorous activity that is seen in health, the animal has more of an 

 inchimtion to wander off by itself and lie over in a corner of the 

 lot, or go into the sleeping pens and huddle up in the bedding. In 

 a herd that is running in a pasture or feed lot in which there is 

 located a straw pile the sick animal will go and burrow under the 



