192 SPECIAL BACTERIOLOGY 



BACILLUS SUISEPTICUS. 



(Schweine-seuche Schiitz ; Swine Plague Smith. Infectious Pneu- 

 monia of the Pig.) 



This bacillus was first described by Loffler and Schiitz, and is also 

 mentioned by Smith as being associated with his hog cholera germ, 

 as well as occurring alone. 



Microscopical Appearances. Short bacilli morphologically, and in 

 cultures very like the chicken cholera bacillus. (See Photomicrograph, 

 Plate III., Fig. 14.) 



Motility. Non-motile. 



Staining Reactions. Stains easily with the ordinary aniline stains. 

 The condition known as bipolar staining is well-marked in young 

 cultures. The Gram method gives negative results. 



Spore Formation absent. 



Biological Characters. On Gelatine Plates deep round brownish 

 colonies appear, while the surface growth is limited. 



hi Gelatine Stab Cultures the growth resembles a nail with a flat top. 

 (See Photograph, Fig. 74.) 



On Agar-Agar it forms a thin coating with crenated margins. 



On Potatoes it does not grow except they are rendered alkaline, and 

 then it forms a yellowish covering. 



Bouillon remains clear, but a thick sediment is formed. 



Milk is not coagulated, but a weak acid reaction results. The indol 

 reaction is present. 



Pathogenesis. Rabbits, small birds, and mice are as easily affected 

 as with chicken cholera, and generally die in twenty-four hours from 

 septicaemia. Guinea-pigs are not so easily affected, but young ones die 

 quickly. In all those animals the changes at the point of inoculation 

 are more intense than with the bacillus of chicken cholera (extensive 

 haemorrhagic oedema) ; fatty degeneration of the liver is also frequently 

 present. Chickens are affected with large doses. Swine die from sub- 

 cutaneous injection, with marked oedema at the point of inoculation, and 

 septicaemia. By injection into the thorax they die from a multiple 

 necrotic pleuro-pneumonia, the bacilli being present in the blood ; there 

 is also a slight enlargement of the spleen, and catarrh of the mucosa of 

 the stomach. Infection by feeding does not occur. Calves likewise 

 succumb from subcutaneous inoculation with the Bacillus suisepticus. 

 The disease essentially consists of a pleuro-pneumonia, with in- 

 flammatory necrosis, and when the processes become chronic caseous 

 deposits occur. The caseous deposits are also found in the large intestines 

 and adjoining mesenteric lymph glands. 



