Respiratory disease is a major welfare concern in pig production, causing chronic suffering and mortality. Understanding enzootic pneumonia and other respiratory conditions guides welfare-improving management.
Pig respiratory disease welfare is a systemic farm management challenge rather than an individual animal treatment issue. Enzootic pneumonia spreads through herds in ways that make individual treatment insufficient - the welfare improvement comes from herd-level prevention through vaccination, biosecurity, air quality management, and housing design. The chronic nature of respiratory disease means that affected pigs experience welfare compromise over extended periods of their short lives. Air quality management - reducing ammonia and dust - is one of the most impactful welfare interventions available, improving both respiratory disease outcomes and the general comfort of pigs in enclosed housing.