Biosecurity measures in pig farming protect both disease prevention and animal welfare, with evidence showing that the same conditions that cause poor welfare often facilitate disease transmission.
Biosecurity and welfare are deeply interconnected in pig production — the stress that comes from poor welfare conditions compromises immune function, increasing susceptibility to infectious disease, which then creates further welfare burdens. Crowded, barren, poorly ventilated systems fail on both biosecurity and welfare criteria simultaneously. Conversely, systems with adequate space, enrichment, stable social groups, and good air quality tend to show better disease resistance alongside better welfare outcomes. Mass culling events triggered by disease outbreaks — where millions of pigs may be killed using methods of uncertain humaneness — represent some of the most severe acute welfare events in animal agriculture. Prevention through improved biosecurity, which overlaps substantially with better welfare provision, is the most effective protective strategy.