Melbourne:
About 400 Australian koalas will be vaccinated against chlamydia as component of a trial that researchers say they hope could play a substantial function in the longer-term survival of the animals.
Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted illness also discovered in humans, has spread extensively amongst Australian koalas, affecting half the animals in some locations.
“It is a cruel disease that causes debilitating conjunctivitis, bladder infections and at times, infertility,” Amber Gillett, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital Wildlife veterinarian and coordinator of study, stated in a statement on Friday as the trial started.
The bacterial illness, which can be spread from mothers to their newborns, can also trigger blindness, researchers say.
The koalas will every acquire one dose of the vaccine and will be microchipped prior to getting released into the wild.
“While this vaccination will directly benefit each of the animals, the trial will also have a focus on the protection provided by vaccination,” stated Peter Timms, professor of microbiology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, which is top the trial.
Although in several instances chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, the researchers stated they hope the vaccine will assistance boost the survival and reproduction of the animals.
Estimates of koala populations differ as they are tough to count in the wild. A 2016 study ran by University of Queensland, calculated there had been about 330,000 koalas left in Australia.
A study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund estimated that more than 60,000 koalas had been killed, injured or impacted in some way by Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2019 and early 2020.
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