Advanced disease prevention strategies for farmed tilapia include vaccination, selective breeding, and water quality optimisation to reduce suffering from common pathogens.
Disease outbreaks in tilapia cause acute suffering from bacterial septicaemia, neurological signs, and death. Prevention through vaccination and selection for disease resistance reduces suffering at scale in one of the world's most widely produced fish. The welfare benefit of preventing disease is both more humane and more cost-effective than treating outbreaks with antibiotics once they occur.