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, is hardly a laughing matter.

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.

Do koala bears have chlamydia

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. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that affects both humans and animals. In koalas, it can cause conjunctivitis eye inflammation , leading to blindness, bladder infections, and infertility due to cysts in the reproductive tract. It is spread through contact between individuals or contaminated food sources such as pap a eucalyptus leaf. This has led to a decrease in fertility rates and an increase in mortality rates due to blindness and other complications caused by the infection. In addition, koalas infected with chlamydia may suffer from pain and discomfort due to cysts in their reproductive tracts or eyes, making it difficult for them to move around or find food sources.

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Among humans, chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world, according to the Pan American Health Organization. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications, such as infertility or ectopic pregnancies — that's when a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus. But uncomplicated cases of the infection are usually cured within days or weeks by taking antibiotics. Again: That's in humans. But we are not the only ones susceptible to chlamydia. Koalas, arguably among Australia's most famous animals, can contract the disease when they are exposed to the feces of sheep or cattle that have chlamydia. Then the sexually transmitted disease is passed on from mother to child, or during mating.

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

And they'd be right. Though koalas are often called "koala bears," they are not bears. In fact, they're not even that closely related. Koalas and bears share scientific classification up to the class level, Mammalia, before they begin to branch apart. Koalas fall first into the infraclass Marsupialia — animals characterized by giving birth to underdeveloped young, which the mothers then raise in a pouch — and then into the order Diprotodontia, family Phascolarctidae, and genus Phascolarctos. Phascolarctos cinereus, are the lone extant representative of Phascolarctidae, which also includes six well-known fossil species, five lesser-known fossil species, and two fossil species that are debatable. Three subspecies of koala have been described, though many biologists believe these distinctions are arbitrary and invalid, so all koalas currently fall under cinerus. Koalas are more closely related to kangaroos and wombats, which are both members of Diprotodontia, than bears, which belong to the order Carnivora. Kangaroos and wombats, we might add, are also not bears.

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Animals Bats can sing—and this species might be crooning love songs. In addition, koalas infected with chlamydia may suffer from pain and discomfort due to cysts in their reproductive tracts or eyes, making it difficult for them to move around or find food sources. Polkinghorne A. Anovulatory cysts are due to secondary follicles that fail to ovulate and are usually reabsorbed without complication [ 18 ]. Koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves, which provide them with essential nutrients but also contain toxins that can harm their health. A mortality survey of free range koalas from the north coast of New South Wales. They are usually associated with the surrounding ligaments and are also known as a paratubal cysts or hydatid cysts [ 19 ]. A major threat to the health and wellbeing of koalas is the bacterium Chlamydia pecorum. To help protect koalas from this devastating disease, Australian scientists have begun vaccinating hundreds of koalas against chlamydia in a trial program. Santamaria F. Related Articles. For over two decades , scientists have brought wild koalas into wildlife hospitals to treat their chlamydia with antibiotics.

A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 5, Australian scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia in a pioneering field trial in New South Wales. The aim is to test a method for protecting the beloved marsupials against a widespread disease that causes blindness, infertility and death.

Read how super-gonorrhea is becoming more resistant to drugs. The conservation status upgrade from vulnerable applied to the koalas in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Rapoza P. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology, and space. Cystic rete tubules, paraovarian cysts, inclusion cysts and anovulatory cysts of follicular or luteinizing type are difficult to determine under ultrasound and are never associated with Chlamydia infection [ 15 ]. What would happen to a dead body in space? The transmission of chlamydial disease in koalas can occur through direct contact with infected animals, environmental contamination, and stress as contributing factors. Pyometra and pyovagina in koalas. In koalas, it can cause conjunctivitis eye inflammation , leading to blindness, bladder infections, and infertility due to cysts in the reproductive tract. The overall health of a koala is measured using several markers including hydration status measured by observing the tactility of the skin , gut fill observed through abdominal palpation , lymph node enlargement determined by palpation and body condition scoring measured through muscle measurement of the scapula muscles [ 9 ]. Australia has begun vaccinating hundreds of koalas against the disease in a trial program. After a few hours or days, the koala comes down the tree and wanders into the cage.