In Big First, Koalas Are Getting an STD Vaccine

A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia, which is causing infertility and death in the iconic native species listed as endangered in parts of Australia. The single-dose vaccine was developed by Queensland's University of the Sunshine Coast after more than a decade of research led by microbiology professor Peter Timms, per the AP.

• The research showed 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%.

• The recent approval by Australia's veterinary medicine regulator means the vaccine can now be used in wildlife hospitals and veterinary clinics and in the field to protect the nation's most at-risk koalas, Timms said. "We knew a single-dose vaccine—with no need for a booster—was the answer to reducing the rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across all wild populations in Australia," Timms said.
• Chlamydia can cause urinary tract infections, infertility, blindness, and death. Treatment with antibiotics can disrupt an infected koala's ability to digest eucalyptus leaves—its sole food source—leading to starvation, per the university.
• Deborah Tabart, chair of the conservation charity Australian Koala Foundation, said resources being spent on vaccinating koalas should be redirected at saving koala habitat. "How can anyone be so delusional as to think that you can vaccinate 100,000 animals? It's just ridiculous," Tabart said. "I accept that chlamydia is an issue for koalas, but I also want people to understand that they're sick because they haven't got any habitat."
• Tabart's foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas in the wild. The government-backed National Koala Monitoring Program estimated last year there were between 224,000 and 524,000.
• Koalas are listed as endangered in the states of Queensland and New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory, with habitat loss mainly due to wildfires and urban expansion. Australia's wild koala populations have declined steeply in the past two decades. Facing compounded threats from disease, habitat loss, climate change, and road collisions, koalas could become extinct by 2050, per a 2020 assessment from the New South Wales government.