Animal welfare: Infectious and production diseases that
compromise livestock/wildlife welfare
Author: Prof Cheryl McCrindle
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Introduction
of wildlife species to areas where they are not
“Good animal welfare practices include prevention and
indigenous. In addition, the level of suffering may be
treatment of diseases and injuries and mitigation of
related to the severity of clinical signs in individual
pain” (FAO, 2008).
cases or different species or age groups. Parasites
Although the scientific study of livestock welfare has
such as ticks, black flies, mosquitoes and midges can
emerged over the last two decades in response to
be a source of stress to animals.
concerns about intensive production systems, methods
used to measure the welfare of animals objectively
Production diseases
using scientific criteria, can be applied to extensive and
Game ranching is not only a profitable way of utilizing
traditional
Livestock
land unfit for crop or livestock farming, but contributes
production systems in most parts of Africa vary from
to maintaining biodiversity. Intensification of game
highly intensive to extensive, from highly profitable
farming such as the breeding of endangered or rare
commercial enterprises to subsistence agriculture, from
game species may increase disease transmission, as
farms that are thousands of hectares in size to small
may close contact between wild and domesticated
scale ventures on a few acres, or communally owned
animals, when these are kept on smaller units.
land.
Production diseases well recognized in livestock
farming
systems
as
well.
include footrot, mastitis, pregnancy toxaemia and
Infectious and parasitic diseases and parasite
acidosis. These are also seen in zoo animals and may
infestations
become a problem in farmed wildlife.
Disease occurrence in an animal population is linked
closely to spatial and environmental determinants as
Measuring welfare effects of diseases
well as host determinants such as species, sex and
It is often difficult to define suffering of an animal. For
age. Thus it is difficult to generalize across the
example, is the malaise demonstrated by a diseased
spectrum, as clinical signs of some diseases, like foot-
animal a welfare issue? Similarly, is the level of care
and-mouth
wild
given to a sick animal the only measurable welfare
ungulates and communal goats, yet cause extreme
problem? Diseases that cause painful lesions, such as
suffering in high producing dairy cows. Keeping
blackquarter, severe lumpy skin disease, or foot-and-
livestock or wildlife that is not genetically suited to a
mouth disease are obvious candidates. But what about
particular climate or environment can also cause
the pain of a mastitic udder, footrot, arthritis, or deep
welfare
of
wounds due to tick bites and miasis? Does the term
European breeds of cattle into Africa and translocation
“suffering” include death? Do female animals suffer
disease
problems.
is
often
Examples
subclinical
are
in
importation
when their young die? Do herd animals suffer when
others in the herd die? Can this suffering be measured
objectively in terms of changed behaviour or higher
stress levels? One quantitative measure of livestock
wellbeing is the level of production in relation to body
condition score and energy levels. Could such
objective measures also be applied to wildlife?
Find out more
This module
not only explores
management
strategies
to
biosecurity and
prevent
diseases
in
livestock and wildlife but also lists and examines the
relative risk of different diseases. It examines to what
extent the health of an animal is linked to its welfare.
Criteria for humane destruction or salvaging of
livestock or wildlife during disease outbreaks will be
critically evaluated and the ways in which infectious
and production diseases can affect welfare will be
discussed. Methods to improve the welfare of diseased
animals and alleviate suffering as well as the ethics of
“letting nature take its course” in regard to diseased
and injured wildlife, will also be examined.
The videos on the playlist “Welfare on Hub” can be
viewed, and will be discussed in the Welfare
modules.
Other relevant information
 Animal welfare: How and why we measure animal
welfare in livestock and wildlife
 Animal
welfare:
development
at
Animal
the
welfare
and
rural
human-livestock-wildlife
interface
 Animal
welfare:
International
trade
and
livestock/wildlife welfare standards
 Animal welfare: Livestock and wildlife welfare during
handling transport and slaughter.