The One Health framework recognizes the interconnection between human, animal, and environmental health, with animal welfare improvements in farming and wildlife reducing zoonotic disease risk and potential pandemic origins.
The One Health framework provides compelling evidence that animal welfare improvements benefit human health, creating aligned interests between welfare and public health advocates. Crowded, stressed farm animals with compromised immune systems provide ideal conditions for pathogen evolution and amplification. Wild animal trade and live markets where stressed wild animals are crowded together create conditions enabling cross-species transmission of novel pathogens. Improving welfare conditions in farming and eliminating live wildlife markets addresses both animal welfare concerns and pandemic prevention simultaneously.