It's an ordinary day at the Banfield pet hospital in Carmel, Indiana. Grade has a bad case of fleas, Punky has an ear infection, Ruby patiently waits to be spayed and Sheila has a swollen tongue after eating a bee. As veterinarian Kelly Rickabaugh and her staff move from dog to dog, dispensing medicine, cuddles and the occasional treat, preventing an epidemic of human disease isn't high on their list of priorities. But as they log every last detail of the pampered pets' care onto the computer, they are helping to do exactly that. Banfleld, a chain of US pet hospitals, has one of the biggest animal health databases in the world and, thanks to a new pet surveillance programme developed at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, the information is being put to work for humans too. Even the most innocuous feline fevers and canine complaints could serve as warnings of an impending outbreak of a serious human disease.
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