Disease outbreaks in shrimp aquaculture cause mass mortality and welfare harm on a vast scale, with biosecurity and vaccination development being critical preventive tools to reduce suffering.
Disease outbreaks in shrimp aquaculture represent some of the largest welfare events in terms of the number of individuals affected, with single pond outbreaks killing millions of animals. Mass mortality from diseases like WSSV and AHPND involves acute physiological failure that causes suffering at population scale. Prevention through biosecurity is both economically and welfare-positive - preventing disease prevents both the welfare harm and the economic loss. The development of effective vaccines for major shrimp diseases would be a significant welfare advance enabling protection without the broad biosecurity restrictions that limit production flexibility. Supporting biosecurity research and vaccine development serves both farmer interests and animal welfare.