296 ACUTE GENERAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



fluids after death is not proof that they were the primary 

 cause of the disease present. Furthermore, they are not 

 infrequently met with in animals which showed no symptoms 

 of disease. Before the discovery and use of the Dorset serum, 

 to prevent cholera in hogs, the now pectoral form of this 

 disease was considered by nearly every authority to be a 

 separate and distinct malady, and known as "swine plague." 

 Notwithstanding the fact that so-called " swine plague" was 

 clinically associated with practically all cholera outbreaks, 

 provided they lasted long enough, and usually formed part of 

 the lesions on examining the cholera carcass,. the unity of the 

 conditions was not admitted. With the introduction, how- 

 ever, of a successful preventive treatment for cholera, based 

 upon an ultramicroscopic organism as the etiological factor, it 

 was soon recognized, as both diseases were equally protected 

 against, that in all probability the bipolar bacillus was merely 

 a secondary invader. It is quite possible that further experi- 

 ment, which is much desired, will show that the relationship 

 of the bipolar bacillus to the other diseases of this group will 

 be similar to that experienced in hog cholera. For the present, 

 however, and until further reliable data are available, the 

 varieties of the bacterium may be considered etiological 

 factors in the remaining diseases of this group. 



Hemorrhagic Septicemia of Cattle (Cornstalk Disease, 

 Bronchopneumonia. Game and, Cattle Plague). — Definition. — 

 Hemorrhagic septicemia is a fatal, infectious disease of cattle, 

 having an acute or subacute course, which assumes a variety 

 of forms in that it may involve the nervous system, skin, 

 lungs, and bowels. It is probably caused by the Bacterium 

 bovisepticum. 



Occurrence. — The disease is widely spread, occurring in all 

 parts of the world. In the United States it has been reported 

 from all sections, but seemingly is more prevalent in the West 

 and Northwest than elsewhere. Several outbreaks have 

 occurred in Ohio. Besides cattle it attacks wild animals, 

 especially deer. 



Etiology. — The Bacterium bovisepticum, a variety of the 

 coco bacillus, is found in soil and water and in the respiratory 

 organs of apparently healthy cattle. 



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