In other vaccination news - Koala Chlamydia vaccination trials begin in Aus

[PsyWulf]

This koala was first to be vaccinated against chlamydia in new trial

Shano was the first of 200 koalas to receive a chlamydia vaccine that may help curb an epidemic that is ravaging koala populations across Australia

www.newscientist.com

Australia Begins Vaccinating Hundreds of Koalas Against Chlamydia in New Trial

The infection affects at least half of koalas living in southeast Queensland and New South Wales

www.smithsonianmag.com

Koalas are dying from chlamydia, and climate change is making it worse | CNN

A silent killer is spreading through Australia's koala population, posing a threat that wildlife experts say could wipe out the iconic marsupial across large parts of the country.

edition.cnn.com

The vaccine exposes koalas to small fragments of the Chlamydia pecorum bacterium that can infect them. This trains the immune system to recognise and attack the pathogen if they become infected.
Eight small studies have shown that the vaccine protects koalas from getting sick if they catch chlamydia and can also reduce symptom severity in those that are already infected.
In the current trial, which is the biggest yet, the vaccine will be given as a single injection to 200 koalas at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in Beerwah, Queensland. The trial began on 15 October, with a koala called Shano receiving the first jab (pictured).

Why vaccinate them you may ask?

For koalas, uncontrolled chlamydia can cause blindness and painful cysts in a animal's reproductive tract that may lead to infertility or even death.
Worse still, antibiotics used to treat the disease can destroy the delicate gut flora koalas need to consume their staple diet of eucalyptus leaves, leading some to starve to death even after being cured.
The disease can also spread quickly.
In 2008, there was a "very, very low chlamydial prevalence" -- about 10% -- in the koala population in Gunnedah, a rural town in northeast New South Wales, according to Mark Krockenberger, a professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Sydney.
By 2015, that figure had risen to as high as 60%. Now, about 85% of that koala population is infected with the disease, Krockenberger said.
"If you think about it, that's not a viable population anymore because of infertility. Pretty much every female that's infected with chlamydia becomes infertile within a year, maybe two years maximum ... Even if they survive, they're not breeding," he said.