252 DISEASES OF SWINE 



by no means to be overlooked when cattle, horses, sheep, or other 

 animals are being loaded into the cars. 



As an illustration of how dangerous these infected cars really 

 are in the spread of hog-cholera the following experience may be 

 of value: 



A few years ago a stockman in eastern Iowa shipped two car- 

 loads of cattle to one of the large packing centers, and on the return 

 trip went over into Kansas and purchased two carloads of feeder 

 cattle for return to his pastures in Iowa. At this time cattle were 

 offered for sale quite reasonable in the district in which he pur- 

 chased his stock on account of the fact that a severe outbreak of 

 cholera was at that time raging in the district, and the death of 

 all the swine had made cattle feeding a rather unprofitable busi- 

 ness. 



The cars on which these cattle were loaded for shipment were 

 some return empties that had been used for shipment of diseased 

 hogs out of the outbreak district, and were undoubtedly infected 

 cars, as they had been returned direct from the shipping point, and 

 almost certainly without having any disinfection or cleaning done. 



When the cattle arrived in Iowa they were at once placed in 

 the feed lots which had been just occupied by the former herd of 

 cattle. At this time there were in the feed lots upward of 100 

 head of hogs which derived their food-supply largely from the 

 droppings of the cattle. 



Two weeks after the new herd of cattle arrived the usual symp- 

 toms of hog-cholera began to develop in some of the younger 

 swine. Loss of appetite, hiding in the litter, high temperature, 

 cough, abdominal tenderness, diarrhea, and appearance of a weak, 

 staggering gait in the hind legs soon made the diagnosis only too 

 plain. Postmortem findings were of the usual character of the 

 severe type of the disease. Within a week the herd had been re- 

 duced over half in number. The balance were loaded on the cars 

 and shipped to market in an effort to lessen the loss as far as 

 possible. 



Here we have a case which illustrates a number of points in 

 the prevention of cholera. 



In the first place, it shows the danger of going into a cholera- 

 infected district and buying any class of live stock which are to 



