A vaccine for the protection of Australian koalas from chlamydia was approved for the first time, a move for which scientists believe will be able to stop spreading the deadly disease that has caused a large decrease in the populations of this cute marsoper.
In chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease that also affects humans, due to half of all the deaths of koala in the wild. It can also cause infertility and blindness.
“Some individual colonies are brought closer to elimination every day,” Peter Tims, a professor of microbiology at the University of the University of the Sunshine Coast, said in a statement.
He pointed out that in some populations in the southeastern part of the State Queensland and the state of New South Wales, the rates of infection are often around 50% and in some cases reach up to 70%.
This dose vaccine is now ready to be used nationally in hospitals and wildlife clinics, as well as in the field.
The vaccine, which Tims’ team developed after more than a decade of research, can reduce the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during their breeding age and reduce the mortality between koalas living in the wild.
“It offers three levels of protection -reducing contamination, preventing its development into a clinical illness and, in some cases, reversal of existing symptoms,” he said.
The Australian government has pledged $ 76 million (US $ 50 million) to rescue Koala.
These animals were classified in 2022 in Queensland, New South Wales and the territory of the Australian capital as a species that is in danger of extinction. Australia’s national program to monitor Koala is submissive between 95,000 and 238,000 the number of koalas remaining in these areas.
Another 129,000 to 286,000 koalas are estimated to live in Victoria and South Australia.
The numbers of koalas have been reduced by half in the past two decades due to infectious diseases, loss of ecosystems, climate change and fires, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Source: Skai
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