Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Botulism?
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Botul, botulism.
It's a neurotoxin produced by the food poisoning bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It's not particularly contagious, but symptoms often show up in animals like cows and horses.
For example, cows suddenly can't stand up, or they develop paralysis, and so on.
It's not a well-known disease, but for those raising livestock, it's something they always have to watch out for.
In the case of pigs, they have relatively strong resistance to botulism compared to cows, so even if ingested orally, it's said not to cause major issues. But having resistance doesn't mean they can't get sick, so it's still a food poisoning bacterium that warrants caution.
"Didn't these just eat grass here and the feed you gave them? What did you feed them for them to drop dead overnight like this?"
"Th-this and that! Leftovers from eating, and! Mixed in scraps from hunting and deboning too!"
"Hmm..."
As I mentioned earlier, botulism is caused by a food poisoning bacterium.
The bacteria live in the soil and infiltrate animal carcasses or things like hay, releasing toxins. These orcs here look like total carnivores, so they probably just fed them whatever—leftovers from their meals or bits of bone from deboning—without a second thought.
Plus, it's early September, not quite autumn yet.
Daytime temperatures are still holding onto summer heat, rivaling August. Given botulism's tendency to produce toxins in response to high heat,
it's highly likely the toxins formed in the animal carcasses these orcs fed them, and the pigs died after eating that.
If, as this pig-herding orc says, the pigs died suddenly, that possibility grows even stronger.
[But you said they have resistance! Then why...?]
'As I said before, having resistance doesn't mean they won't get it at all, and some individuals don't have enough resistance.'
For instance, like the colostrum I explained earlier—piglets that lose out in nursing competition to their siblings and don't get that first milk, failing to acquire immunity from the mother,
or if the mother has issues and the colostrum quality is low, preventing sufficient immunity buildup. There are various problems like that, but in those cases, there's one thing I always curse out.
[...Feed issues?]
'Exactly. Most of these fattening pigs were already adults before they started eating the feed you provided. If their mothers ate that feed and gave birth to them, of course it affected them.'
In the end, it's a feed problem. The feed caused weakened resistance, and the feed also allowed the food poisoning bacteria to thrive.
Or it could partly be due to them suddenly switching from farm life to pasture grazing.
"Honestly, knowing they have resistance, you might suspect puffersinensis over botulism, but that's mainly in young pigs and outbreaks mostly in spring."
Puffercinensis, like botulinum, belongs to the Clostridium genus.
This bacterium strikes even in botulism-resistant pigs and causes sudden death, just like botulism.
Normally, when pigs or people get sick, appetite drops first. But according to the pig herder, this pig was eating the feed he gave it just fine a few hours ago.
That's why even the herder thinks, 'Huh? Why'd it die?'
Symptoms like loss of appetite are more for ruminants like cows. Pigs die suddenly—hyperacute in 1-2 days, acute in 2-3 days.
Of course, in the latter case, you'd see ongoing diarrhea for up to a week, but the orcs might not have noticed. There could be various factors,
but I'll stop here for now.
After all,
no matter how much I speculate based on circumstances and suspicions,
I can't say for sure what it is.
[Why? It's a disease, right? You've been explaining all this!]
'Well... because they're pigs.'
Pigs die from all sorts of diseases so often, and compared to cows worth millions each, they're cheap, and you can adjust numbers easily.
Unless it's something catastrophic like foot-and-mouth or swine fever, it barely makes the news.
They're just pigs, after all.
Not like cows that take a year to birth one calf—pigs pop out 10 or 12 in months, like fish-shaped buns from a mold. Who cares if a few die; it doesn't hit farm economies hard.
If cows mass-die at a Hanwoo farm, big scientists investigate. Pigs? Not so much.
Because they're pigs!
So, information is scarce. Nobody cares how pigs get sick or die unless they're raising them themselves.
And pigs get so many diseases!
That's why I can only suspect, not confirm. All I can do is guess similar diseases, try treatments, watch progress,
doesn't work? Try another similar one. Keep going until something sticks.
Even saying it's Clostridium symptoms, I can't assume this world's food poisoning bacteria behave exactly like mine.
And these aren't clustered in pens; high-heat Clostridium symptoms in a non-hot setup? Questionable.
This world's common sense doesn't match what I know.
But if this really is botulism...
"There's nothing I can do."
[Why? There must be treatments!]
"Treatment?"
There isn't any.
No joke—really none.
For humans, maybe antitoxin serum, but for animals, once it hits, death is basically certain.
Botulism's a nerve toxin so deadly it's banned as a bioweapon. Once it's in the body, no fixing it.
All you can do is prevent it.
Honestly, whether puffercinensis or botulism, both Clostridium—so strict feed management and antibiotics mixed in is the best prevention.
No cure.
Anyway,
Having diagnosed it as such, I immediately yelled at the orc leader.
"Burn all these dead ones. No composting, no eating—burn every last one! And if you find diarrhea traces, deal with that however too!"
Can't fix contaminated soil, but excretions can be handled right away.
Mix antibiotics in feed and manage carefully to halt further losses.
"Such a waste! Pigs bestowed by the Go-, god! Waste!!"
Yeah, I know it's a waste.
But no choice. Gotta burn them all. No recycling.
Botulinum sounds like a bacterium name, but it comes from Latin "botulus" meaning sausage—from 18th-19th century Germans dying from botulism after eating sausage.
Once you suspect botulism in pigs, no reusing them. Can't risk it.
I've seen articles about botulism hitting nearby Hanwoo farms from fields using dead pig compost.
"How do you handle dead pigs like this? Crows or whatever pecking at them?"
"Never! Too precious! Won't give to crows!"
"Good, that's a relief."
Even without botulism suspicion, it's late summer vibes. Time to watch for food poisoning in people too.
Dunno how orcs live, but better incinerate than risk rotten meat sickness.
So, botulism or whatever—once it flares, no fix. Prevention only. Keep them from rotten stuff, send antibiotic feed,
feed it and monitor.
Still outbreaks? Then real headache.
After directing urgent tasks and catching my breath, the orcs' gazes turned weird.
-Ooooh, great uri's lord!
-Protecting us like this!
-Praise the god!
"?"
Dunno why, but just telling them no rotten meat, and the backline orcs started chanting wildly. Calling me pig god or something.
"Heh heh... You made me a sow, so yeah, pig god fits... eeeeek...♥"
"This is your fault! Your fault!"
Irritated, I smacked Eleonora's ass, and she collapsed into full lewd sow mode again.
She'd stayed quiet with my cock in her while I worked, but now nothing left for me to do,
and she wanted her fun too.
Who knows when next for public exposure sex thrill? Seizing the moment, she started shaking her hips front and back.
A sow like Eleonora shaking her ass on cock in front of orcs—drool-worthy; holding back till now deserves praise.
"Behold! Your god turned this Eleonora into a sow who knows only cock so clearlyyy...!?"
"Keep yapping?!"
"Hiiiii... Fingers in my asshole agaaain...♥"
Image fixed as the god who trained her like this—no changing it. Shoved fingers in her asshole to shut her up.
"F-four at once... Hngiii... Pussy serves Master's cock, asshole serves Master's fingers... How am I this happy sowww...♥"
-Ooooh...
-Slutty sow beauty!
-Made her submit as sow to our pig god again!!
Uwaaaaaah?!
Meant to silence her with fingers, but instead of glare, pure dripping affection. Gooey-melting Eleonora hyped the orcs more.
"Getting seen again—how many times today... exposure sex...!"
"You're loving it, huh."
Not enough earlier? Eleonora unleashed throaty, whoreish moans to rile the males.
[Heh heh, so you hate it?]
"...No."
Asking even knowing I wanna creampie her?
"You're turning me on too!"
"Kh, kkhnggg... Cock's getting bigger...!?"
Am I trained by Eleonora instead? Beast-like, I pounded the prone Eleonora like a dog in heat.
-Ooooh! God gonna impregnate the sow?!
-Record it! For posterity!
"No pictures, you bastards?!"
And they're good at drawing too!
Ignoramuses blind to rotten meat risks, but pros at art—grabbing canvas, sketching our fuck with charcoal pens.
"P-picture?!"
"Snapping to it now that you think future gens see you like this?"
"Hah, hah hah...♥"
...Nah?