Social stress as a cause of diseases in farm animals: Current knowledge and future directions

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, biomedical research has established a strong linkage between psychosocial stress and disease risk in humans, which has transformed the understanding of stress and the role it plays in human lives. This research has led to personalized medicine where a reduction in daily life stress is a main goal for many people with debilitating illnesses. This review describes the supporting evidence that social stress also plays a critical role in farm animal disease prevention, and may be a mediator by which common management practices can increase disease risk. There is evidence that social factors, including deprivation of social contact ('social isolation'), reducing space allowance ('crowding') and disturbing social order ('social instability') trigger physiological and behavioral indicators of stress in livestock. Less research exists, however, linking management practices that trigger social stress with higher disease risk. Suggestions are offered for future research opportunities, and practical, evidence-based recommendations are made for reducing the negative effects of social isolation, instability and crowding. The current evidence that social factors contribute to disease risk in farm animals is not as convincing as the human literature, but remains a promising and important area for future research.

Keywords: Illness; Livestock; Overstocking; Regrouping; Social isolation.