Vaccine to curb chlamydia epidemic decimating koalas approved

A vaccine which could save Australia’s endangered koala population from a rampant chlamydia epidemic has been approved for rollout for the first time.

University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) scientists have spent more than a decade developing a jab to curb the spread of the disease, which has decimated wild koala populations across most of eastern Australia.

“Some individual wild colonies, where infection rate can be as high as 70%, are edging closer to extinction every day,” Dr Peter Timms said.

With approval from regulators now secured, he said the team hoped for major funding to distribute the vaccine to wildlife hospitals, vet clinics and koalas in the wild.

Dr Timms, who specialises in microbiology, said the single-dose vaccine – without the need for a booster – was the ideal solution to stop the “rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across wild populations”.

Apart from being potentially fatal, chlamydia – which is transmitted by close contact or mating – can also cause painful urinary tract infections, conjunctivitis, blindness and infertility in koalas.

Both male and female koalas can contract the disease, which is a different strain to the one found in humans, while joeys can catch it through feeding in their mother’s pouch.

Koalas infected with chlamydia are usually given antibiotics but the treatment means they cannot digest eucalyptus leaves – their only food source – leading to starvation and sometimes death.

The much-loved national icon has faced increasing threats to its wild populations across much of eastern Australia in recent decades, from factors including land clearing, natural disasters, feral pests and urbanisation.

But chlamydia has been the biggest killer and claimed thousands of koalas. Some estimate only 50,000 remain in the wild, and there are now fears the animals will be extinct in some states within a generation.

The vaccine’s approval by Australian regulators is based on a decade-long study of clinical trials, which the university described as the largest and longest ever study of wild koalas.

“This study found [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%,” said UniSC’s Dr Sam Phillips, who led the research.

This latest development comes a day after the New South Wales (NSW) government announced 176,000 hectares of state forest would be reserved for a proposed Great Koala National Park.

The park’s aim is to “ensure koalas survive into the future so our grandchildren will still be able to see them in the wild”, said NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.

It is estimated it will protect more than 12,000 koalas as well as provide a habitat for more than 100 other threatened species.