Improving conditions for animals in farming and wildlife markets reduces the risk of emerging infectious diseases that can cause global pandemics.
The connection between animal welfare and pandemic prevention is direct and well-documented. Crowded, stressed, immunocompromised animals in industrial farming and live animal markets create ideal conditions for pathogen evolution and spillover to humans. The COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of H5N1 avian influenza, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and previous SARS and MERS outbreaks all involved animals kept in conditions that welfare advocates would independently oppose. Improving animal welfare through less crowding, better sanitation, and elimination of live animal markets would simultaneously reduce animal suffering and pandemic risk.