Respiratory disease prevention through vaccination and management reduces one of the most common and welfare-significant disease categories across multiple livestock species.
Respiratory disease prevention is a welfare investment with some of the clearest evidence for cost-effectiveness. Vaccination against the major respiratory pathogens of cattle and sheep reduces disease incidence, severity, and welfare impact while also reducing antibiotic use and treatment costs. Management interventions — adequate ventilation, stress reduction at housing transition, appropriate stocking density — complement vaccination by reducing the conditions that allow respiratory pathogens to establish and spread. Prevention is more welfare-effective than treatment because it prevents the suffering rather than reducing it.