Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the most economically significant disease in pork production globally. Its welfare impacts are severe and systemic control requires coordinated industry action.
PRRS causes significant animal suffering through severe respiratory distress, reproductive failure including late-term fetal death, and high neonatal piglet mortality. Affected growing pigs experience dyspnea, fever, and secondary bacterial infections from the immunosuppression PRRS causes. The welfare impact is amplified by the disease's propensity to reactivate (PRRS virus persists in pig populations and can recrudese under stress), creating cyclical welfare problems on affected farms. Control and elimination require farm-level biosecurity investment and, importantly, regional coordination - individual farm control is undermined when neighboring operations have active PRRS. Welfare-focused PRRS control prioritizes early detection, rapid intervention to reduce duration of outbreak severity, and long-term elimination strategies rather than chronic live-with-it management.