Koala chlamydia vax on track

NEARLY 100 koalas have been vaccinated against chlamydia in the past year as part of a trial Friends of the Koala is undertaking with the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The Lismore-based organisation is vaccinating 100 koalas per year as part of the three-year research project.

More than 60 per cent of koalas admitted to the non-profit organisation’s hospital suffer from chlamydial infection, which causes painful sore eyes and blindness in some koalas and severe bladder or kidney disease or infertility in others. Only around a third survive assessment and treatment, with many so ill they need to be euthanised on admission.

The hospital is the first in NSW to implement the vaccine created by UniSC researchers, with vets vaccinating all marsupials treated there before they return to the wild.

Friends of the Koala veterinary clinical and research director Dr Jodie Wakeman said the disease is easily transmitted through fighting and mating and prevention of the disease is vital to ensuring the health of endangered koala colonies.

“Once koalas show clinical signs of illness and are rescued, the disease is often very difficult to treat and many of them will not survive treatment,” she said. “Vaccinating koalas to prevent chlamydial disease not only saves the lives of individual koalas but it also helps to control infection spreading to others.”

But Ms Wakeman said to see the vaccine being effective at a population level would require them to vaccinate more than 50 per cent of an individual colony.

“Chlamydial disease is very widespread throughout koala colonies in northern NSW and in order to make a real impact we would need to be able to intensively capture and vaccinate a large number of koalas within each colony. We are currently not able to do this because the vaccine is not yet registered — it is still only accessible under a research licence, so our access is limited and it is very expensive to obtain.”

She hopes that data collected from the project will expedite registration of the vaccine for wider use.

To donate or learn how to volunteer, visit friendsofthekoala.org