248 DISEASES OF SWINE 



Two weeks later, when he made a visit to the pasture, he noticed 

 that several of the hogs were missing. On making an investigation 

 and search for them, he found 4 of the animals down in the creek 

 bed dead and a number of others in a very sick condition. Within 

 another ten days he had lost nearly three-quarters of the entire 

 herd, and before the outbreak had run its course he had only 

 about a half-dozen left, and 2 of these so badly stunted that it 

 was considered the best pohcy to knock them in the head. 



Within a few days after the outbreak on this farm the disease 

 began to make its appearance on farms further down the stream, 

 and rapidly spread over a wide area, causing an enormous loss. 



The outbreak in this case was almost unquestionably due to 

 hog-cholera germs brought to the pasture by the buzzards which 

 were attracted by the dead sheep carcass, as these hogs were far 

 removed from any other herd and were not visited by anyone 

 except the owner, and he only at rather long intervals. No new 

 animals had been added to the herd, and there had been no cholera 

 on farms higher up in the course of the stream so far as could be 

 found out. The buzzards had, to all appearances, come from a 

 distance of several miles over in Indiana, where an outbreak of 

 the disease had been raging for several weeks. 



This man's experience should serve as a warning of the ex- 

 treme danger that follows allowing any form of dead animal carcass 

 to be exposed where it will attract buzzards to the community. 

 They are nearly always disease producers, and they come only 

 when there is something there for them to feed upon. 



Another common means of spreading a cholera outbreak is 

 also brought out again in this instance, that is, the rapid rate of 

 spread of this disease along the banks of a running stream. Espe- 

 cially is this Hkely to occur when, as in this case, dead carcasses 

 are allowed to decompose and rot away in the bed of the 

 stream. 



Outbreaks of cholera are often marked by the fact that the dis- 

 ease breaks out on several farms which are widely separated from 

 each other, and skips over farms located between. It is often 

 hard to explain just why this should be so. A great deal of this 

 mystery can be cleared up, however, if we but stop to consider the 

 habits of the buzzard : the wide circling flights that he makes and 



