Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1885-12-30
@ails gress aud 9akotaian
HOG CHOLERA.
A Remedy for Sick Swine-The For.
eagn Vaccination Process.

A Remedy for Sick Swine-The For
eign Vaccination Process.
Omaha Herald Lincoln special, 49,:
The value of hogs which have dieu with
hog cholera in Nebraska during the last
two years has been 81. 100000. The mere
statement of the facts is enough to give
an absorbing interest to any experiment
which looks toward the prevention of
the ravages of a disease which causes
annually &c great q loss to the portion of
the population of the state which is least
able to bear it. Keeping this fact in
view your correspondent visited DIR.
julius Gerth, state veterinarian, this
morning, and secured from him u brief
resume of the experiments which he has
been making III the incubation Of hogs
with Pasteur's a%ttenuated hog cholera
virus, which ls looked to with q good
deal of confidence by veterinarians as
likely to furnish an almost infallible pre-
pentlve OF the destructive contagion.
The experiments have been briefly re-.
ferred to several times in the Herald.
The production of attenuated cholera
Virus is something of very recent origin,
and the credit of it is due to Pasteur,
the celebrated French chemist, who
gave out the first results of his expert
ments less than q year ago. Prof. A.
Llautard, dean of the American Neterin-
airy college, was in France when the dis.
covery was made known, and by request
OF Prof. Pasteur, brought some OF the
virus to this country and distributed it
among several veterinarians for pur-
poses of experiment. The results of
none of these experiments have been
made public.
The German government made exper-
lments last yeaIssoon after the produc-
tion OF the attenuated virus by Pasteur,
and the results were reported as very
satisfactory.
DIR. Gerth received some of the attenu-
ated virus in October, and November 2
made the first incubation. T~wenty-six
pigs, varying in age from 5 to 6 monthe,
were inoculated, and November 4, Is and
81 and December l each, one inoculated
} animal was killed and microscopic aud
} poet norton examinations were made
by Prof. Charles E. Bessy, of the state
university, by aid of the university
microscope, u $1,000 instrument, and
the only one in this section of the coun-
try with which reliable scientific work
can be done.
In all the post-mortem examinations
there were fonnd LESSONS of hog cholera,
well, but not extensively marked, except
; in the last case, in which they were *,
t tensively marked. In the second vac.
cine and in the blood from two of the
~lnoculated pigs number of spherical
bodies, both single and IN groups of two
three, four and more, were found. They
, were identical in the attenuated virus
and In b blood and seram, showing
= that the animals had become truly iloc
ulated. Measurements of these bodies
T made by means of Beck's cobweb micro.
meter, showed these to be of the same
size OF m"icrococcuR suis as described by
Grove in his "Synopsis of Bacteria ana
= = Yeast Fungi" All the inoculated ami
5 mails, with n exception, are dong well
although in the earlier stages of the in.
oculation q slight cough and evacuation
a with a slight diarrbea in some, were
e manifested. One pig died, but as it was
, a feeble animal it is doubtful whethe,
8 it's death was not due entirely to othe,
. causes.
The identity of the disease as existing
t in France and in this country having
been questioned by one qnite eminen
. veterinary authority, Or. Gerth caused
careful microscopic examination to b,
made of the blood and serum of a hos
dying with the hog cholera, The ex
ANIMATION showed the exact identify o
: the germs as existing in Pasteur's viru
and the blood of the hog dying with hol
cholera, THUS showing pretty co~nclusivel
that the French cholera is the same o
ours.
!, The experiment will be completed b.
inoculating with active virus the animal
J. that have been inoculated with the activ
virus, in order 70 determine whethe
they have secured immunity. They vii
z also be exposed to the ravages of tn
Y disease.
DIR. Gerth states that personally b
!. has no doubt that with Pasteur's vaccin
he can produce hog cholera in a mil
s form. The experiment will probably b
r completed within sixty days.
+