HOG CHOLERA 209 



At times quite large portions of skin and underlying muscu- 

 lar tissue die and slough off, leaving large sores. These sores 

 appear more commonly, perhaps, around the neck, head, and 

 back than elsewhere. This is probably not due to the filterable 

 virus but to secondary invaders. 



Farmers must bear in mind that symptoms vary greatly in 

 different outbreaks, and avoid being led into the costly error of 

 mistaking mild cholera for something else. It is not always 

 easy even for an expert to diagnose cholera, and for this reason 

 it is safer to assume that a questionable outbreak is cholera. 



FIG. 72. — Hog Cholera, (m, H. B.) 



Subcutaneous hemorrhages resembling those of hemorrhagic septicemia. 

 Note the dark spots. 



Autopsy. — The skin on parts of the body where the hair is 

 thin, like the flanks and inside of the fore legs and thighs, may 

 be deep red or purple. Hemorrhages may be usually found in 

 the fatty tissue under the skin and on the internal organs. The 

 lungs often show scattered and sharply defined areas which are 

 dark in color, solid and much like liver. Or, there may be a 

 severe general pneumonia with pleurisy. The lymph glands in 

 the mesentery and elsewhere are deeply hyperemic or hem- 

 orrhagic. 



When the large intestine is opened, dark spots, more or less 

 bloodstained, or even clots of blood, may be seen upon the lining 

 membrane when the disease is of a very acute type. The more 

 chronic cases show peculiar and characteristic ulcers in the lin- 

 ing membrane of the digestive tract, especially the large intes- 

 tine, and they are usually more numerous near the cecum or 

 blind pouch. These ulcers are irregular in outline, with yellow- 

 ish or dark centers, and frequently appear as being raised above 



