Existential risks and global challenges: migrant workers and interspecies exploitation

​This article was originally published by the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge. Read the original article here.

Our current animal-based food production system is largely based on the systemic exploitation of animals for human use. Farmed animals now account for the majority of global mammal biomass, with intensive farming dominating the sector. This model of industrial production not only raises serious animal welfare concerns but also presents significant risks to global health and security through zoonoses, diseases transmissible between animals and humans. As the vast majority of emerging infectious diseases is of zoonotic origin, the factors determining disease dynamics need to be adequately studied and addressed for global health security.

Intensive animal farming involves high population densities, generally poor animal health and welfare, and low genetic diversity, all of which decrease immunity and resistance to disease. These conditions foster an environment where zoonotic diseases can emerge and spread rapidly. The ecological consequences are equally concerning. Industrial animal production is a key driver of deforestation, often to make way for pasture or to grow animal feed. This destruction of natural habitats breaks down ecological buffers, encroaches on wildlife areas, and increases the risk of zoonotic spillover events. Moreover, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in such settings is a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing global health crisis. As the industrial farming system is increasingly exported from Global North to Global South countries, there needs to be more attention to the health security risks and impact on animal and human welfare.

These systemic risks of animal and ecosystem exploitation extend to the human workforce, particularly in the meat production and processing sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic starkly exposed these vulnerabilities. Meatpacking and food processing plants became global hotspots for infection, particularly affecting workers from low-income, immigrant, and precariously employed backgrounds. These individuals occupied low-status, high-risk jobs in the animal production sector that were physically and emotionally demanding. Despite the clear health risks, governments designated these operations as ‘essential’ during lockdowns, allowing and even encouraging them to scale up production to meet anticipated food shortages, often without adequate occupational safety and health protections in place. In some rural communities, infection rates near meatpacking plants were up to five times higher than elsewhere, in turn impacting food supply chains, economies and health systems.

The pandemic showed that vulnerability to disease is shaped not only by biological risk factors but also, and often more critically, by structural and social inequalities such as poverty, precarious employment, and restricted access to healthcare. These systemic issues create significant protection gaps for workers in the animal production industry, where unsafe working conditions are often the norm. Immigration status and insecure employment further compound these vulnerabilities, through barriers to adequate social and health protection.

In collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), CSER Research Affiliate Dr. Dorien Braam published a working paper that underscores how these intersecting inequalities contributed to the spread of COVID-19 within the animal production sector. The report highlighted how overcrowded housing, unsafe working conditions, and poor sanitation facilitated disease transmission, exposing deep systemic weaknesses, with meat-processing facilities becoming hotspots of infection due to inadequate health safeguards. Moreover, migrant workers were often excluded from public health planning and lacked access to basic healthcare services. These conditions not only endangered their health but also amplified broader public health risks.

The paper stressed the urgent need to better protect migrant workers in industrial animal farming, particularly given the specific risks posed by intensive production. Animals in these systems are often stressed and immunocompromised due to crowded and unhygienic conditions. Similarly, workers in slaughterhouses are exposed to physically and psychologically taxing environments, which may reduce immunity and further increase vulnerability to zoonotic and other infectious diseases, making the intersection of animal and migrant worker exploitation a pressing concern for pandemic preparedness.

To address these interconnected issues, the working paper outlines three core focus areas: (1) building the evidence base, (2) developing effective policies, and (3) implementing targeted programmes. Researchers are called upon to strengthen the evidence base of the migration–zoonoses nexus and collect disaggregated data, by age, gender, as well as legal and employment status, taking into account the health and working conditions of migrant labourers in the animal production sector, especially concerning zoonotic disease outbreaks.

The evidence makes clear that interspecies exploitation, of both humans and animals, is deeply intertwined. Addressing these challenges requires integrating migrant workers into health research, surveillance systems, and public health planning, while adopting systemic, interdisciplinary approaches to disease prevention. Although systems thinking and frameworks such as One Health are increasingly deployed to address issues at the intersection of animal, human, and environmental health, these have largely remained anthropocentric. A more inclusive and equitable One Health approach, one that also considers animal welfare and social justice, is essential for addressing the root causes of zoonotic disease emergence, AMR, and ecosystem collapse.

By embedding migrant workers into disease surveillance, national preparedness plans, and health interventions, and by redefining health to include welfare for both humans and animals, governments and stakeholders can strengthen resilience across food systems and local economies. Doing so will advance health equity and animal welfare, while improving global health security in the face of growing ecological and epidemiological threats.