Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-10-06
Recent Investigations Lead to
New Supposition Concern
ing Cause of Disease
EXPERIMENTS NOW UNDER WAY
In Dealing With the Form of Out
break Originating in Southwestern
Iowa, 1t Was Suspected That Some
Agent Other Than the Hog Cholera
Bacillus Was At Work.

Des Moines Oct. Professor 70. A.
De Schweinitz of the biochemic divi-
sion OF the bureau of animal industry
at Washington, in circular No. Al, is
sued October /. gives the result of re-
cent Investigations of certain form
! of hog cholera which is not produced
| by the common hog cholera or the
swine plague bacilli. The outbreaks
of the disease so far as have been OBJ
served all had their origin In south
western Iowa, and number of pigs.
weighing from fifteen to forty pounds,
were sent from that state to Washing
ton, where the investigation were car
ried on.
There was no trouble in perpetuating
the disease by transferring 1t from one
animal to another, and 1t was found
that the disease is highly contagious,
healthy pigs that were allowed to come
In contact with sick animals invariably
becoming sick themselves within the
usual period of incubation. The dis
ease can not be communicated to any
other animals than hogs.
The first symptoms noticed are that
the pig is slightly indisposed: there is
loss of appetite and listlessness, but
as rule nothing else on the first day.
BY the second day of visible illness the
animal Is usually very sick. hollow in
tanks and has staggering gait. There
may or may not be diarrhoea, and the
feces are frequently blood stained. AL
most without exception the eyes are
sore and the lids glued together. The
symptoms just enumerated become
gradually more pronounced, until the
death OF the animal which takes place
as rule within seven days after the
appearance OF the initial symptoms and
exposure OF infection.
At times the kidney is intensely con-
gested, with all the glomeruli being
visible as minute, deep-red points,
while at others 1t is as a whole not
congested. but exhibits In it's cortex
number of small. sharply defined.
very dark hemorrhagic spots.
From the above described LESSONS and
symptoms 1t Will be seen that this
disease is apparently identical in all
particulars with the acute type Of hog
cholera, and that 1t is produced without
the aid Of the hog cholera bacillus.
Professor Schweinitz sums up the res
suit of his Investigations as follows:
1.-The fact that this particular type
of hemorrhagic hog cholera is so sim
liar In both symptoms and LESSONS to
the ordinary acute hog cholera sup
posed to be caused by the hog cholera
bacillus, and that. by our methods of
incubation, without the presence Of the
hog cholera bacillus, we have never
produced a case Of chronic hog cholera,
have led us to suspect that possibly
in all outbreaks of acute hog cholera
there is some other agent besides the
hog cholera bacillus at work, and that
in those cases of acute disease where
the hog cholera bacillus is found we
have to do, not with a pure infection,
but with a mixed infection by hog
cholera bacilli and the organisms which
are responsible for the disease which
we have just described. In fact vir-
ulent hog cholera bacilli have been iso
lated from hogs In which the disease
had been produced by incubation with
infective material in which the absence
of the bacilli had been proved by fill
tration, by culture and by the inocu-
lation OF rabbits or guinea pigs.
IF such supposition is we'll founded
it is quite evident what an important
bearing 1t must have upon the preven-
ton and treatment of hog cholera, and
we hope to be able to decide this point
positively when the experiments now
under way have been completed"
Tho srraod IF fhiS disease NAV he
prevented by the measures usually eff
fective in dealing with ordinary hog
cholera-the isolation of sick animals
and disinfection Of all infected lots
by carbolic acid and line. Details Of
special methods Of treatment will be
given later.