Multidimensional Impacts of Infectious Diseases on Animal Welfare
A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Microbiology, Parasitology and Immunology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 11 December 2025 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal welfare; animal behavior; welfare assessment; prevention
Interests: ruminants; epidemiology; health management
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
It is widely recognized that the welfare of animals is the state of an animal who attempts to cope with its environment. Many factors could affect individuals and their welfare, such as housing and bedding, space and crowding, transport conditions, infectious diseases, human–animal relationships, and other management strategies. Pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites, rickettsiae, and fungi) are among the environmental factors that affect animal welfare in multiple ways, e.g., reduced comfort of the individual due to the acute pathologies resulting in clinical signs, such as loss of appetite, fever, weakness, diarrhea, respiratory problems (cough, ocular and nasal discharges), or long-term effects from weight loss. Also, reduced animal welfare may result from a lack of social interaction due to disease control measures imposed on the entire population, such as quarantine, when an animal is separated from its herd. Clinical signs are included in the many animal welfare protocols (e.g., welfare quality and the AWIN protocols) rather than the diseases. The aim of this current Special Issue is to identify problems, spread knowledge, and seek solutions to further improve animal welfare in cases of infectious diseases.
We are inviting original research manuscripts, literature reviews, and case reports influence of infectious diseases on the five different domains of animal welfare (nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state); methods for assessing the effect of infectious diseases on animal welfare at the individual or group level, especially physiological, immune, or psychological aspects; methods of monitoring the behavior of animals with infectious diseases; and the validation of measured parameters.
Prof. Dr. Katarina Nenadovic
Dr. Dejan Bugarski
Prof. Dr. Tamara Ilić
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- animal welfare
- infection diseases
- behavior
- health care
- management
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