Preventing zoonotic diseases - those that pass between animals and humans - requires improving conditions for both human and animal health, creating alignment between welfare and public health goals.
Zoonotic disease prevention and animal welfare share a common interest in reducing the conditions that generate both suffering and pathogen risk. Intensive animal farming systems with high stocking densities, poor ventilation, stressed animals, and high antibiotic use are associated with both poor welfare and elevated disease risk. Improving conditions - more space, lower stress, better hygiene, reduced antibiotic use - benefits both animals and the humans who interact with them or consume their products. The One Health framework provides a scientific and policy architecture that integrates animal welfare into public health strategy, and its adoption at institutional level creates important opportunities for welfare advocates to work alongside public health professionals.