Rainbow trout face several significant disease challenges in aquaculture. Disease prevention and management have direct welfare implications for farmed fish.
Trout disease welfare reflects the same tension as all aquaculture disease management: untreated disease causes suffering and mortality, while treatment often involves handling stress and chemical exposure. The ideal welfare outcome is disease prevention through biosecurity, vaccination, and environmental management. PKD presents a particular challenge as climate warming increases disease pressure and effective vaccines are not yet available. Temperature management - maintaining water below the threshold at which PKD parasites reproduce rapidly - is a welfare intervention that requires farm design consideration and ongoing monitoring.