[Pathomorphological changes in African swine fever in an African country]

Studies were carried out on morphologic changes in 27 pigs experimentally infected with a virulent virus of the African swine fever and in 61 pigs that has spontaneously developed the acute form of the disease. A description and 11 colour plates are given of the characteristic gross and microscopic lesions, consisting of strongly mainfested hemorrhagic diathesis, two-to fourfold enlargement of the spleen, and two-to threefold enlargement of the stomach, liver, mesenterial, kidney, and sternal lymph nodes. The digestive tract was shown to be thoroughly involved, most pronounced being the changes in the stomach and the large intestine. It was demonstrated that the basic histologic changes were localized in the central lymphoreticular system--spleen and lymph nodes, consisting in dystrophic and necrotic lesions of the lymphocytes (karyorrhexis and karyopycnosis), the reticular cells, and the cell elements of the blood vessels. A comparison is made with the morphologic changes in the case of classic swine fever, stating the most essential differences between the lesions in the two forms of the disease.