Disease burden is one of the most significant sources of welfare compromise in pig production, and prevention through biosecurity and management is more welfare-positive than treatment.
Pigs with significant infectious disease suffer respiratory distress, fever, weight loss, and in severe cases death. Subclinical disease causes chronic welfare compromise that is often invisible without active health monitoring. Biosecurity-focused disease prevention creates systemic welfare improvements by reducing disease pressure across the whole herd, avoiding both disease suffering and the welfare impacts of treatments.