World-first vaccine approved to save koalas from deadly chlamydia epidemic
Koala vaccine developed after more than a decade of trials
- Australia has approved the world's first single-dose vaccine to combat chlamydia in koalas, a disease significantly threatening the endangered species.
- Developed after over a decade of trials at the University of Sunshine Coast, the vaccine will be rolled out in wildlife hospitals and in the field.
- Chlamydia causes painful urinary tract disease, infertility, blindness, and death in koalas, with infection rates reaching 70 per cent in some colonies.
- The vaccine, based on Chlamydia pecorum's major outer membrane protein, reduces infection, prevents disease progression, and can reverse existing symptoms, proving more effective than previous antibiotic treatments.
- This breakthrough is crucial as koala numbers have plummeted to as few as 60,000 nationwide, with the species declared endangered across much of eastern Australia.