INFECTIOUS DISEASES 1 35 



A DISEASE RESEMBLING HOG CHOLERA 



In Circulars Nos. 41 and 43 of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry is published the description of a 

 disease that cannot be distinguished by its symp- 

 toms alone from hog cholera. 



During the course of the investigations concern- 

 ing hog cholera by de Schweintz and Dorset, cer- 

 tain outbreaks were met with, which were appar- 

 ently not produced by the germs of hog cholera 

 and swine plague. This fact, together with their 

 observations of the wide variations in the symp- 

 toms and lesions encountered in the different hog 

 cholera outbreaks, led them to institute experi- 

 ments in order to determine whether or no other 

 diseases than hog cholera and swine plague were 

 present in the so-caled "hog cholera" outbreaks. 



Causes. — ^The specific cause of this disease has 

 not been determined. The experimental work has 

 shown that the disease can be readily communi- 

 cated to healthy pigs by exposing them I0 diseased 

 animals in the usual way. It is apparently, a 

 highly contagious disease. The time between the 

 exposure and development of the symptoms is 

 about the same as in the acute form of hog cholera. 

 In fact, the results of the late investigations by the 

 Bureau of Animal Industry indicate' that the acute 

 form of hog cholera is not caused by the hog chol- 

 era bacillus, but by the germ of this disease. 



Symptoms and Lesions. — The symptoms and 

 post mortem lesions are so similar to the acute 



