Disease outbreaks in pig populations require rapid welfare response, and planning for emergency depopulation and biosecurity reduces suffering during outbreak events.
Disease outbreak welfare in pigs involves both chronic suffering during disease spread before detection and the acute welfare challenge of emergency depopulation. Diseases like African Swine Fever cause prolonged illness and death in affected animals. Emergency mass culling operations, conducted under pressure and sometimes with inadequate personnel and equipment, can use methods that cause significant suffering. Robust biosecurity that prevents disease entry, early detection systems, and prepared emergency depopulation protocols with welfare-positive methods protect animals before and during outbreaks.