Do koala bears have chlamydia

One of the leading killers of Australia's endearing koalas is a debilitating bacterial infection: chlamydia. The idea of koalas with chlamydia — a common sexually transmitted infection in people — recently drew chuckles on HBO's "Last Week Tonight," but the disease, which is affecting koalas in epidemic proportions, do koala bears have chlamydia, is hardly a laughing matter. Chlamydia-infected koalas made the news on Sunday May 6 when the show's host, John Oliver, mentioned the dedication of a new koala ward at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, called the John Oliver Koala Chlamydia Ward, to treat the sick marsupials.

One of the primary causes of this decline is chlamydia , a bacterial infection that can cause blindness and infertility in koalas. In an effort to save the species, Australian scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia in an ambitious field trial in New South Wales. It has been all over the news recently. Several huge media outlets have covered the koala chlamydia outbreak, but we decided to chime in as the leading STD testing company in the US. Koalas are marsupials native to Australia, inhabiting eucalyptus forests along the eastern and southeastern coasts. They are known for their unique appearance, with gray fur and large round ears. Koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves, which provide them with essential nutrients but also contain toxins that can harm their health.

Do koala bears have chlamydia

Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. A significant threat to koala populations is infection from Chlamydia , which results in disease and death. A major contributor to high mortality is the development of reproductive cysts, resulting in female infertility and euthanasia. However, the diagnosis of reproductive disease is limited to ultrasound with no further investigations. This communication highlights reports of histological and microbiological findings, the accuracy of ultrasound to necropsy reports and other possible causes for reproductive cyst development previously reported in other hosts. Our conclusions identify a significant knowledge gap in the aetiology of koala reproductive cysts and highlight the urgent need for future investigations. Unfortunately, koala population levels have continued to decline due to multiple natural and anthropogenic factors, and in the koala was listed as a threatened species under the Australian Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act In addition to habitat destruction, a recent report of koala deaths within a single wildlife hospital over a year period identified the top three reasons for koala fatalities as traffic accidents A major threat to the health and wellbeing of koalas is the bacterium Chlamydia pecorum. A failed scheme developed in Victoria in an attempt to increase koala populations reported that translocations of healthy, Chlamydia -free koalas into areas of high Chlamydia burden resulted in increased chlamydial disease in the translocated koalas, leading to continued decline of the population [ 8 ].

Patterson J. One of the leading killers of Australia's endearing koalas is a debilitating bacterial infection: chlamydia.

Australia 's iconic koala has a problem that keeps boomeranging back. Chlamydia, a type of sexually transmitted disease also found in humans, has hit wild koalas hard, with some wild populations seeing a percent infection rate. The infectious bacteria usually aren't fatal, but they can severely impact a koala's health. That's a concern, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the fuzzy mammal vulnerable to extinction , mostly due to habitat loss. Young koalas in the pouch also get it from eating their mom's pap, a "very nutrient-dense fecal matter" that joeys eat after breastfeeding but before they start on eucalyptus leaves, she says. The pap may allow the koala's gut microbes to digest otherwise toxic tannins in eucalyptus, the species' main food source. For over two decades , scientists have brought wild koalas into wildlife hospitals to treat their chlamydia with antibiotics.

The koala has been listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN since and it is estimated that there are only , left in the wild today. Lead researcher Dr Faye Wedrowicz told BuzzFeed News that her team decided to look at koalas in the region because they are promising to the future of the species in Australia. And no, the strain of chlamydia that infects koalas is not the same that infects humans but it is sexually transmitted in the same way. Genetic evidence from the chlamydia bacteria suggests that koalas were infected by the disease through transmission from livestock specifically sheep. Although one paper on the topic states the "mechanism of transmission between livestock and koalas currently eludes us". The interspecies chlamydia transmission was likely related to faecal contamination of a koala's food source and probably not what we're all currently thinking. Koalas appear to differ in their response to chlamydia infection, with some not affected by the disease and others dying of it. Professor Katherine Belov of Sydney University and one of a team of Australian and international researchers to have recently sequenced the koala genome, told BuzzFeed News that this is all down to their genetics.

Do koala bears have chlamydia

Researchers always knew koalas contract chlamydia, but until now they had no idea how sick the animals could get from the infection. Sixty-six percent of koalas infected with chlamydia go on to develop disease symptoms, according to a study published last month in Nature. That amazed Peter Timms, the lead author on the study and a professor of microbiology at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Timms and his team from the university found that two-thirds of infected koalas go on to fully develop chlamydia. The rest remain free of symptoms. With koalas losing habitat and road accidents increasing, chlamydia further threatens the species. The researchers gathered the data between and at a koala management program, where free-living koalas were captured, monitored and managed by experienced veterinarians.

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But uncomplicated cases of the infection are usually cured within days or weeks by taking antibiotics. What would happen to a dead body in space? A further study of koalas from the South Australian Mount Lofty ranges performed histological examination on pariovarian cysts from a single koala described the cysts as thin-walled and fibrocollagenous with infrequent papilliform projections of dense fibrovascular connective tissue [ 37 ]. Helping koalas battle disease—Recent advances in Chlamydia and koala retrovirus KoRV disease under-standing and treatment in koalas. It has been all over the news recently. See our best wildlife photos from Animals in Review See our best wildlife photos from A tender moment between mountain hares. Of course, reproductive cyst development is not limited to female koalas, with naturally occurring reproductive cysts identified in rats [ 41 , 42 ], cynomolgus and rhesus monkeys [ 43 , 44 ], cows [ 45 , 46 , 47 ], dogs [ 48 ], pigs [ 49 ] and water buffalo [ 50 ]. Kang X. But while they aren't prone to running away at lighting speeds, koalas do spend most of their time high up in eucalyptus trees. Funding This research received no external funding. Effect of estradiol on chlamydial genital infection of female guinea pigs. Park J.

A serious bacterial infection called chlamydia is one of the leading causes of death for Australia's koalas. But new research has identified an antibiotic that can manage the infection with few side effects, offering a ray of hope for these adorable, endangered marsupials.

This would significantly improve the population growth of koalas with more koalas of reproductive age being released back into the wild. This discovery may help her figure out how to keep the protective microbe alive in the koala during its course of antibiotics. How'd that happen? According to some scientists' estimates, around half of all wild koalas in Queensland, another state on Australia's east coast, are already infected with chlamydia. Rubio A. Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause painful eye infections and blindness, bladder infections, and infertility in koalas. All rights reserved. Current Therapy in Medicine of Australian Mammals. Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease in humans, and a different strain of the bacteria can infect koalas. Effect of estradiol on chlamydial genital infection of female guinea pigs. To get there, the researchers first need to capture their study participants. Animals Why was a grizzly bear hanging out with a wolf pack? But scientists now suspect that a virus in the same family as the human immunodeficiency virus HIV could be the culprit, according to a study published online in the March issue of the Journal of Virology. In: Lunney D. Dinosaurs dominated our planet not because of their massive size or fearsome teeth — but thanks to the way they walked.