TESTING NEW DRUG

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LXI, Issue 16, 27 February 1940, Page 3

TESTING NEW DRUG

TREATMENT OF SOME PIG

DISEASES

Some experiments are being conducted under field conditions in the treatment of some of the more common dieeases of pigs by means of a new drug of the sulphonamide class. Although .a rather expensive drug for the treatment of animals, the reports of results obtained overseas in the treatment of lung diseases, arthritis and enteric diseases of the pig would suggest that the preparation may prove of some value in controlling mortality of pigs on otherwise well-managed pig farms, says the latest issue of tHe Agricultural Journal.

The dosage is being tested, as careless use of the preparation would cause toxic symptoms, and controlled experiments are to be conducted in several districts on a few of the more common outbreaks of diseases in pigs. It is intended particularly to test the value of the preparation in the treatment of necrotic enteritis and acute paratyphoid cases. If opportunity offers the preparation will also be tested in cases of acute arthritis of an epidemic nature, or even in the case of pneumonia in the pig.

It will be obvious that the drug is an unknown quantity so far as the treatment of pig diseases in this country is concerned, and some time must elapse before any definite opinion can be formed. In the meantime, there should be no relaxation of effort in endeavouring to control diseases of pigs by the provision of hygienic, sanitary surroundings and feeding places, by attention to housing and diet, and by isolation in cases of a heavy mortality.