136 DISEASES OF SWINE 



form of hog cholera that is unnecessary to re- 

 peat the description of them. 



Treatment. — The treatment is along the line of 

 prevention and sanitation, the same as in hog 

 cholera. 



SWINE PLAGUE 



Swine pligue is an infectious disease of swine 

 frequently associated with hog cholera. In some 

 outbreaks it appears as a septicaemia or blood 

 poisoning, but more often as a pneumonia or an 

 inflammation of the lungs an'd pleural membrane, 

 which lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs. 



History. — It was not until the summer of 1886 

 that swine plague was identified as a distinct 

 disease. Prior to this time all outbreaks of infec- 

 tious swine diseases were supposed to be due to 

 the germ of hog cholera. Dr. Theobald Smith 

 was the first to investigate ' swine plague and iso- 

 late the specific cause of the disease. He proved 

 beyond all. doubt the disease-producing properties 

 of the germ by inoculating rabbits and hogs with 

 pure cultures obtained from outbreaks of swiije 

 plague. He found it identical with the germ 

 descrihed by Loeffler, which produced an infec- 

 tious pneumonia rschweineseuche) of hogs in 

 Germany. 



A few investigators, especially Dr. Billings, did 

 not agree with the results obtained by Smith, and 

 a long controversy among the veterinarians in the 

 United States, as to whether swine plague existed 



