Australia has approved a chlamydia vaccine for koalas, a significant step in combating the sexually transmitted disease responsible for approximately half of all wild koala deaths. This national rollout follows a decade of trials by scientists at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

• The disease can affect up to 70 percent of koalas in some populations, particularly in southeast Queensland and New South Wales.
• Lead researcher Professor Peter Timms noted the vaccine reduced the likelihood of koalas developing chlamydia and decreased deaths in wild populations by at least 65 percent.
• Previously, antibiotics were the only treatment, but they disrupted digestion and offered no future protection. The bacterial infection, first observed 50 years ago, causes blindness, bladder infections, infertility, and death, contributing to koalas being listed as an endangered species along Australia's east coast.