SWINE PLAGUE 



71 



scriptions of the various maladies caused by this group of bac- 

 teria. We already have a similar grouping in tuberculosis, 

 where the disease bears the name of its cause, no matter in 

 what species of animals it exists or in what form it manifests 

 itself. Such a siniplying process is hoped for but at present 

 it seems desirable to retain the names of the diseases that are 

 now recognized. 



SWINE PLAGUE* 



Synonyms. Infectious pneumo-enteritis. Pasteurellose 

 of swine ; septiceinie duporc; pneumonie contagieuse ; Schwein- 

 eseuche. 



§ 65. Characterization. Swine plague is an infectious 

 disease of swine occurring sporadically and in epizootics. It 

 appears usually as a septicemia, or a pneumonia in which there 

 is marked consolidation of the ventral and cephalic lobes and 

 the cephalic portion of the principal lobe of one or both lungs. 

 There may or may not be pleuritis. There may be marked 

 changes in the intestine, consisting of superficial necrosis of 

 the mucosa especially in the ileum and cecum. On this 

 account it has been considered an infectious pneumo-enteritis. 



§ 66. History. In 1886, Smith found in a pig in the 

 state of Illinois a disease which differed from hog cholera, and 

 from the lesions he isolated an organism which differed from 

 the bacillus of hog cholera. L,ater other cases of this disease 

 were found in considerable numbers not only in the state of 

 Illinois but in various places in the eastern part of the United 

 States. Prior to this, LoefSer in Germany had described an 

 organism which he had found to be the cause of an infectious 

 pneumonia in swine {Schweineseuche) and with which Smith 

 was able to identify the organism he had discovered. The first 

 publication on this disease in the United States is in the 



* For an explanation of the confusion existing concerning the 

 nomenclature of swine plague and hog cholera see hog cholera. 



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