Scientists at an Australian university are hoping to help make the island’s dwindling and beloved koala population healthier with a chlamydia vaccine for the marsupial.
The University of the Sunshine Coast said this month that it had started the third phase of a clinical trial for an experimental vaccine.
Chlamydia can be deadly for the animals. It causes similar complications to those seen in humans if left untreated, including pink eye, genital pain, discharge and cysts.
According to a 2019 study in the journal Scientific Reports, about half of the koalas in one geographic area of Austalia tested positive for the infection, and many of those that tested positive were also infertile.
Since 2018, Australia has lost an estimated 30 percent of its koalas as a result of wildfires, drought, heatwaves and land clearing, the Australian Koala Foundation said last month.
In the first two phases of the University of the Sunshine Coast’s trials, the vaccine has proven to be safe, professor of microbiology Peter Timms said in a statement, adding that the study had involved around 200 wild and captive koalas.
The next phase will involve 400 koalas, including those that live in sanctuaries as well as animals that enter the hospital for treatment, he said.
They will be divided into two groups: 200 will receive the single-shot vaccine and 200 will be in a control group.
“While this vaccination will directly benefit each of the animals, the trial will also have a focus on the protection provided by vaccination,” Timms said in a statement. “All koalas will be microchipped, and the hospital will record any animals that return for any reason over the following 12 months.”
Timms said his team was working with vaccine manufacturers and government regulators to speed the release of a vaccine in the event of positive trial results.
A clinical trial is also underway in the U.S. for a human vaccine for chlamydia. A phase 1 trial testing the safety and immunogenicity of a human chlamydia vaccine began in 2019 and is expected to be complete in 2022, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
