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A groundbreaking vaccine, poised to protect Australia’s vulnerable koala population from a devastating chlamydia epidemic, has secured approval from a federal regulatory body.
Scientists at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) dedicated over a decade to developing the vaccine, aiming to control the disease’s spread. Chlamydia, transmitted through close contact or mating, has significantly diminished wild koala populations across much of eastern Australia.
“Certain wild colonies, where infection rates can reach as high as 70 percent, are facing an increasing risk of extinction,” stated Dr. Peter Timms.
Dr. Timms indicated that the team is actively seeking substantial funding to facilitate a nationwide rollout of the vaccine, targeting wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics, and koalas in their natural habitats.
Dr. Timms, a microbiology specialist, emphasized that the single-dose vaccine, requiring no booster, presents an ideal solution to halt the “rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which is responsible for approximately half of all koala deaths within wild populations.”
In addition to its potential lethality, chlamydia can induce painful urinary tract infections, conjunctivitis, blindness, and infertility in koalas.
Both male and female koalas are susceptible to contracting the disease, which is a distinct strain from that found in humans. Joeys can acquire the infection through feeding within their mother’s pouch.
Koalas infected with chlamydia are typically treated with antibiotics, but this treatment can impair their ability to digest eucalyptus leaves, their sole food source, leading to starvation and, in some instances, death.
The beloved national icon has encountered escalating threats to its wild populations across much of eastern Australia in recent decades, stemming from factors such as land clearing, bushfires, drought, and urbanization.
However, chlamydia has emerged as the most significant contributor to koala mortality, claiming the lives of thousands. Some estimates suggest that only 50,000 koalas remain in the wild.
The vaccine’s approval is the culmination of a decade-long study involving clinical trials, which the university hailed as the most extensive and prolonged study ever conducted on wild koalas.
“This study revealed that [the vaccine] reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during breeding age and decreased mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65%,” stated UniSC’s Dr. Sam Phillips, the research lead.
This recent advancement follows the New South Wales government’s announcement that 176,000 hectares of state forest will be designated for the proposed Great Koala National Park, amid concerns that wild koalas could face extinction in the state by 2050.
The park aims to “ensure koalas survive into the future so our grandchildren will still be able to see them in the wild,” according to NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.
The park’s objective is to safeguard more than 12,000 koalas and provide habitat for over 100 other threatened species.
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