Livestock Economics, Marketing and Business Management

EFFECT OF ANIMAL DISEASE ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL WELFARE

Effect on human nutrition

• Major direct effect on human welfare is through reduced supply of high quality animal protein to young children and adolescents.
• Thus animal diseases reduce their nutritional value.

Effects on Community Development

• Animals are source of supply of traction power and dung material in most developing countries.
• Further, they are sources of products like wool, hair, hide, feather, fur etc., used for clothing, decoration, manufacture of utensils. Animal disease may cause reduced supply of these products.
• Another effect of animal disease which are zoonotic is to cause disease in human as well as the animal population, thus amplifying their impact.

Cultural significance of animal

• In most countries animals serve functions far beyond the utilization roles.
• In our country, cow is considered as saint and buffaloe is considered as vehicle of Emedharmaraja (God for killing).

Animal Welfare

• Animal disease control is an important issue in protecting the welfare of managed animals.
• There have been surprisingly few efforts to qualify welfare effects of diseases and most of the information available is opinion rather solid evidence.
• Greater biological understanding will be required before quantitative assessments of effects of disease on animal welfare.