Pathogenic Bacteria

CHAPTER VII.
SWINE-PIvAGUE.

THE bacillus of swine-plague, or the Bacillus suisepti-
cus of Loffler and Schiltz, and Salmon and Smith, so
closely resembles that of chicken-cholera that it is easily
confounded with it, and, indeed, at one time, they were
thought to be identical. The species has, however, suf-
ficient well-marked characters to make its differentiation
clear (Fig. 115).

Swine-plague is a rather common and exceedingly

FlG. 115.—Bacillus of swine-plague (from photograph by E. A. de Schweinitz),

fatal disease. It occurs alone or in combination with
hog-cholera (q. z>.), and because of the lack of suffi-
ciently well-characterized symptoms—sick hogs appear-
ing more or less alike—it is often mistaken for that
disease. The confusion resulting from the mixed cases
makes it impossible to determine exactly how fatal swine-
plague may be in uncomplicated cases.

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