|
Australia's Leading Regional Agri-Tech Event! Tamworth NSW, Wednesday 6th - Thursday 7th March 2024! AgSmart Connect 2024 will bring education and innovation to the forefront through thought leadership, research and development in Australian agriculture to professionals of the land. 
0 Comments
 Dr Campbell Costello is one of the new breed of aviation vets, servicing remote communities and also on the frontline when it comes to detecting emerging threats to our biosecurity. By John BurfittIn many ways, it was almost inevitable that veterinarian Dr Campbell Costello would end up in a career that also involved him being behind the control panels of a plane. For Dr Costello, aviation is not only in his blood; it’s also a part of his adventurous spirit. The son and grandson of pilots, Dr Campbell has had a fascination with aviation since he was a boy, and now owns a plane named Pip which is at the centre of his company, Outback & Airborne Veterinary Services. The operation which Dr Costello began in 2021 delivers veterinary services to rural and remote communities across Queensland, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. But Dr Costello doesn’t just limit himself to Australia’s skies. His sense of adventure has taken him all over the world—to Mongolia, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Israel, China and Argentina. Some trips have been to fulfil veterinary contracts, others have been simply to explore different countries and cultures—a lifelong passion. “I’ve always been a little bit different, and I’ve always craved adventure,” Dr Costello says. “Some people like structure, but if you want to achieve greatness, you really have to get out there among life. “But these days, the people I really want to help are those who rely on vets to help with their livelihood and their existence, whether they’re in a small town or a regional community, or on a remote property. These are the places I fly into every week.” Life in the country Dr Costello, 35, refers to himself as a locum vet. “I am a locum as the need is there and I am going to some places where they have not had a local vet in years due to the ongoing shortage,” he says. As a result, his Piper Lance PA-32R aircraft is fully fitted so he can do everything from spaying dogs and testing blood results in a built-in lab to performing surgery.  “We are like the Uber of veterinary science,” he laughs. The past few years of operating the service has opened his eyes to the dire reality of the vet shortage across Australia. “This has made me realise the extent of the problem we are dealing with,” he says. “One way it has broadened my vision is that I have had to take on more and more roles because there is simply no-one else to do the work. At times, it didn’t seem we were getting anywhere. Now, I feel my flying service has had an impact and is making a difference.” Dr Costello is one of the few locum vets in the country using a plane to travel between appointments, and doing so seems to have granted him a respect he hasn’t known until now. “There remains this weird resentment vets encounter that even though we’re an essential service, some clients get annoyed they have to pay for it,” he says. “But, as a pilot and vet, there’s an immediate respect as I fly in. Working this way has added to my ability to do the job, as there’s no arguments about payment. That’s been very interesting.” In the course of his travels and due to the kind of work he does, Dr Costello has discovered another issue the veterinary profession is facing—biosecurity disease risks not only within Australia but also from our northern neighbours. He has consulted on the problem for the Federal Department of Agriculture and recently had meetings with state agriculture ministers in Queensland and NSW. It was when he was working in Nepal in 2018 with the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization battling a foot-and-mouth outbreak that he realised the full extent of the problem. These days, the people I really want to help are those who rely on vets to help with their livelihood and their existence, whether they’re in a small town or a regional community, or on a remote property. These are the places I fly into every week. “That had a big impact on me and ever since, I have been looking into what’s coming next, and what vets need to do about it,” he says. “As vets, we need to actually understand what is happening with our neighbours to the immediate north, and have a far better understanding of what’s involved in preventing outbreaks here. “For instance, a University of California study revealed that every hour foot-and-mouth goes undiagnosed results in a $500 million loss to the economy and 2000 head of cattle having to go to slaughter.” Other diseases he’s concerned about include lumpy skin in cattle and rabies in Australia, and ovine rinderpest in small ruminants and saiga antelope in Mongolia. In recent times, he’s also helped battle Japanese encephalitis outbreaks spread from north QLD into VIC, as well as the tick disease Ehrlichia canis in the NT. Part of his work now is to be an advocate for prevention, to bring attention to these issues well in advance. “It’s unfortunate there’s inaction from state and federal governments and biosecurity, but I plan to keep advocating about this as we need to be on top of it,” he says. Work-life balance Considering his background, Dr Costello’s focus on the wellbeing of people in remote communities and the safety of our livestock population is easy to understand. He grew up on a beef cattle property in Charters Towers in northern Queensland which was so remote, his primary school education was by School of The Air. He was in the first veterinary science graduating class at James Cook University in Townsville in 2010. After graduation, he worked in rural Victoria as a mixed-animal vet before embarking for a number of years on his world travels, including riding across Mongolia, trekking across Afghanistan and dog sledding in Alaska. He returned to Australia to work as a large animal vet in the Kimberley region for 18 months, but in early 2019 contracted leptospirosis.  “That made me ill for a very long time and I had something of an epiphany when I realised I was not getting any younger and I was flogging myself as a large animal vet,” he says. “I knew I needed to strengthen my skills in the small animal discipline and moved home to Queensland.” He currently resides in Townsville.
Part of that epiphany also included speaking out about the mental health issues facing vets. He says acknowledging there is a problem is an important first step. “Things have been tough in our profession for a while and we need to revalue our approach to work and maybe re-design the way veterinary services work to make it more sustainable for the years ahead, as well as for the new graduates coming in,” he says. “It breaks my heart that every 12 weeks in the veterinary profession, one of our colleagues dies by suicide. That is avoidable and cannot be allowed to become the norm. We need to get rid of the stigma of burnout and focus more on better support, better conditions and better pay.” One way Dr Costello has found a more balanced approach to work is through his love of adventure. He is combining his passion for travel with his love of animals big and small by becoming a tour leader with Jon Baines Tours. Last year, he took a group to Borneo, and this October, he’s heading to South Africa. Aside from enjoying sharing the adventure and his insights about the animals he sees with the group, taking the tours helps him escape from the demands of his work. “It’s really important as a vet to know when to pull up and take a break, and doing these tours is a great chance for me to recover away from work, as well as have a great time getting a whole different perspective,” he says. “Sitting on the roof of a jeep deep in the African wilderness, watching wildlife stroll by is very good for the soul. Every day doing so recharges me a little more so I am ready for the work I need to take care of once I return home.” Source: Vet Practice Mag, April 11 2023 4/13/2023 Beekeepers called to action amid fears varroa complacency is threatening multi-billion-dollar industryRead Now Varroa mites latch onto bees with their legs.(Supplied: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry)
QBA secretary Jo Martin said the response to prove that Queensland was still varroa mite-free was "ringing alarm bells". "We really don't have a lot of confidence in the results that we're currently sitting on in the system," Ms Martin said. Ms Martin said she had experienced sleepless nights over the fact that just 10 per cent of voluntary hive surveillance work had been officially completed in Queensland. Reports from just 5,000 of the 50,000 hives that Biosecurity Queensland was hoping to have mapped have been lodged with the Bee 123 online form and app, or the 13 25 23 hotline. "This is a significant call to action," Ms Martin said of the re-launch of the campaign in the battle against the world's worst honeybee parasite. Australia's honeybee industry was officially valued at more than $14 billion last year. Apiarists estimated it was worth more than $20 billion, taking honey production, crop pollination services, and medicinal and cosmetic products into account. Beekeepers are required to conduct alcohol washes at least 16 weeks apart and report results to their respective state governments.(Supplied: NSW Department of Primary Industries) First detected in the Port of Newcastle's sentinel hives in June, new infestations of varroa destructor mite were uncovered last month in NSW's Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North Coast regions. They were traced back to hives moved from the initial infection zone. "We had the same problem about guys not wanting to report their findings," NSW Apiarists' Association president Steve Fuller said of the initial response in his state. |
RSS Feed