Koala were placed on the endangered list decades ago. Since then, they fared well, so much so that they had been removed from the list.
Recently however, a spate of diseases has brought focus on the small marsupial once again.
One of the diseases that is ravaging the koala is chlamydia. Biologists are testing koalas for bladder infections to identify if they are afflicted by the disease.
The strain of chlamydia that is affecting koalas is transmitted both sexually and otherwise, unlike the strain that infects humans.
The problem is that the disease is fast spreading in the koala population. In some parts of Australia the rate of the epidemic in koalas is as high as 90%.
Even little joeys can become infected during their suckling period when they are kept in the mother's marsupial pouch.
Besides causing blindness and infertility, chlamydia can be fatal if untreated.
Koalas are also getting sick from another disease, a strain of retrovirus that has symptoms combination of both leukemia and lymphoma. And the retrovirus is not only infecting the host, but also the host koala egg or sperm. So the joeys are already born with a full blown infection.
The dual impact of these diseases is threatening the koala population like little before, even more than deforestation and loss of habitat.
The only hope of saving the koala population rests on the Queensland University of Technology, which is trying to come up with a vaccine that will prevent the animals from getting sick in the first place.
The team has already developed an experimental vaccine for the chlamydia. While the vaccine might not end the battle against disease for the koala, it will give the little furry marsupial a fighting chance for survival.
Source: Nova. 4.18.13
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