320 ACUTE GENERAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



is paraplegia, cyanosis, and great dyspnea (lung edema) . The 

 patients usually die in three or four days or may live a week. 

 In some cases the symptoms subside on about the third day, 

 the animal recovering or the disease assuming the chronic 

 form. 



(c) Chronic Form. — In this type symptoms of chronic endo- 

 carditis (see this) and gangrene of the skin occur. It is 

 noted in hogs which have passed through the acute stage and 

 seem to be recovering. In about one to two months, however, 

 they begin to droop, lose appetite, cough, become dyspneic, 

 cyanotic, develop heart palpitation ("thumps"), and carry 

 a mild fever. Gradually becoming weak, after several weeks 

 they die of inanition. 



Prognosis. — The skin form is benign, practically all recover- 

 ing. In the septicemic form the mortality is 60 to 90 per 

 cent, and chronic cases are generally fatal. 



Diagnosis. — Swine erysipelas is easily confused with hog- 

 cholera. Clinically the differences are not marked. As a 

 rule, however, the lungs and bowels are less affected in erysip- 

 elas and the reddening of the skin is intra- rather than extra- 

 vascular. Bronchopneumonia with pleuritis and button-like 

 ulcers in the cecum or necrosis of the intestinal mucous mem- 

 brane are lesions not seen in swine erysipelas. In doubtful 

 cases a bacteriological examination of the blood should be 

 made. 



Treatment. — A medicinal treatment is useless. 



Prevention. — As the bacillus of this disease has a saprophytic 

 existence in soil, and is often present in the tonsils and bowels 

 of "germ carriers," it is difficult to eradicate. However, the 

 usual causes of infection, as noted, are afPected swine, living 

 or dead, and therefore susceptible hogs should be isolated 

 from them. Infected pens and hog lots should be thoroughly 

 disinfected, the droppings collected and rendered innocuous. 

 Hog pastures contaminated with the germs should be culti- 

 vated. Carcasses should be burned or buried deep, 



Protective Inoculation. — As one attack of erysipelas pro- 

 duces immunity, vaccination, much practised in Europe, is 

 feasible. Two methods are employed : One known as that 

 of Pasteur, which requires a double vaccination, the first fol- 



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