Description: | From the “Illustrated Manual for the Recognition and Diagnosis of Certain Animal Diseases”, published in 1982, by the Mexico-United States Commission for the Prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease, this photograph depicts a postmortem, close view of a number of enlarged, hemorrhagic lymph nodes, in a case of hog cholera (HC). HC is a highly contagious, acute viral septicemic disease, characterized by generalized hemorrhages. The etiologic agent belongs to the family of viruses known as Flaviviridae. “Because the virus is viable at a pH of 5-10, it is not destroyed by postmortem changes, however, a temperature of 56oC will inactivate it in a few minutes. The pig is the only animal in which HC is known to occur naturally.” |