256 DISEASES OF SWINE 



Unfortunately, however, this attempt to be of assistance to your 

 neighbor often results in the introduction of the disease into your 

 own herd. The manner in which this comes about is about as 

 follows : 



Two or three years ago there was an outbreak of cholera on the 

 farm of a Mr. Watson, over in eastern Iowa. He at once decided 

 to ship out all the animals which were of sufficient size to go to 

 market, and, as he had quite a large herd, he found it necessary to 

 call upon several of his neighbors for teams to assist in the moving 

 of the animals to market. As is always the case, the neighbors 

 responded liberally to his request for assistance, and before day- 

 break on the following morning the animals had been loaded and 

 were dehvered to the cars before the sun had reached a high point 

 sufficient to endanger the animals from overheating. 



As it was warm weather, the wagons were freely bedded with 

 wheat straw, and this thoroughly wet down with cold water, in 

 order that the animals might be kept as cool as possible. Im- 

 mediately after the animals had been loaded into the cars the vari- 

 ous farmers returned to their own homes, taking with them the 

 infected wagons. Some of the drivers washed out their wagons in 

 town, and threw out all the infected litter and manure, others 

 swept out the wagons along the road on the way home, while 

 others let the litter remain in the wagon until they reached home. 



One farmer, in particular, left his wagon untouched until he 

 reached home, when he drove out back of the barn and, taking a 

 broom and hose from the windmill, thoroughly swept out and 

 scrubbed the wagon bed. Several small shoats which had the run 

 of the barnyard were naturally attracted by the artificial mud- 

 puddle thus formed, and immediately took to its use as a wallow 

 for the day. 



Ten days later several of these shoats were off feed, and within 

 three days two of them had died. Postmortem findings and 

 symptoms before death were absolutely those of cholera, and there 

 can be but little question as to the method by which the infection 

 was carried to the premises. 



This man's experience was a most costly one to him, and, un- 

 fortunately, he undoubtedly is still in the dark as to the exact 

 manner in which the infection reached his farm, but we are in a 



