Campbell Costello, the Flying Vet, examines solutions for avian influenza.
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00:00Aussie vet Campbell Costello has the largest consulting room in the world.
00:06From the parched Red Plains of far north Queensland, through to Alice Springs and beyond, the mobile
00:11vet and his canine companions visit, diagnose and care for thousands of animals every year.
00:18If we draw a line from Cairns at the top of Queensland, through to Mount Isa in the west,
00:23across to Catherine in the Northern Territory and up to Darwin, there is not one other full
00:28time private veterinarian servicing this whole area.
00:31This is about the same size of NSW in Australia, or in American terms, just slightly larger
00:36than Texas.
00:37Okay boys, time to see a man about a dog.
00:43Meet Dr Costello's other trusty flight companions, Mick and Myra, two state of the art mobile
00:49instruments that diagnose disease faster than ever before.
00:55So how does the Mick work?
00:56Mick doesn't just run one sample, but dozens at the same time.
01:00And unlike many other diagnostic instruments, if it's moved or shaken, nothing will break
01:05or need recalibrating.
01:07It can tolerate extreme temperature changes up to 80 degrees Celsius for days.
01:12Aussies are a smart bunch.
01:14They invented the black box flight recorder, through to spray on skin for burns victims
01:18and Wi-Fi.
01:19I reckon Mick is up there.
01:21The great thing about Mick is that you can use it anywhere, anytime.
01:25There's no sending samples off to labs and waiting days or weeks.
01:28I can have a real time result, in the field, in an hour.
01:32I can collect a specimen myself with a dog perched on the wing of my plane.
01:37Testing for any known pathogen is as easy as changing an ink cartridge in a printer.
01:43In cattle farming, Mick can detect bovine viral diarrhoea, foot rot, tick disease, foot
01:50and mouth disease, and hendra.
01:53In environmental health and ecology, Mick can detect outbreaks of chlamydia in koalas,
01:58a species facing extinction by 2040.
02:03In human health, the Mick detects deadly pathogens, including COVID-19.
02:08It can also detect and diagnose respiratory, sexual, and gastrointestinal infections, all
02:15with results in under an hour.
02:18Mick and Myra.
02:19Precision.
02:20Performance.
02:21Portability.
02:22Anytime.
02:23Anywhere.