Panel 3 - Maltreatment derived pathologies
Food-borne diseases associated with production methods have become increasingly common in recent years: we define them as "abuse-derived pathologies" because they are all the consequence of productivity-driven practices that ignore animal welfare.
They can be categorized into different types:
- dangerous epidemics of food poisoning from bacterial contamination;
- diseases emerging in the livestock industry, which spread causing huge epidemics and pose either an actual or a potential threat to human health (from Foot and Mouth Disease and BSE to avian flu, to swine fever);
- threats of antibiotic resistance amongst the human population;
- health risks from water and air pollution caused by manure concentration.