Koala chlamydia vaccine trial raises hope

Australian scientists say they have successfully tested a vaccine aimed at protecting wild koalas from chlamydia.

The disease has ravaged the native marsupial, which is under increasing threat.

Microbiologists in Queensland now hope to protect some of the remaining population after successfully trialling a vaccine developed over five years.

Koala numbers have plummeted in recent years and there are believed to be as few as 43,000 left in the wild.

In some areas, numbers have dropped by as much as 80% in the past 10 years.

The strain of chlamydia that affects koalas can lead to blindness, infertility and death among the animals.

In the trial, microbiologists from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland gave 30 koalas the vaccine while 30 others were left unvaccinated.

All 60 were then fitted with radio collars so they could be monitored in their natural habitat at Moreton Bay, north of Brisbane.

Of the 30 vaccinated, some were already infected with chlamydia, some were healthy and some were showing symptoms of the disease such as eye infections and reproductive tract infections.

Researchers said that seven out of eight koalas suffering from eye infections who received the vaccine showed an improvement.

But in the unvaccinated group, four of six koalas with eye infections saw their conditions worsen.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-29828269