World-first vaccine for koalas

Above: Professor of Microbiology Peter Timms with a koala at Endeavour Veterinary Ecology in Toorbul.

An ecology and veterinary centre in the Moreton Bay region has helped develop a world-first vaccine to save koalas.

Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE) at Toorbul has been a key partner in University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) clinical trials of a chlamydia vaccine.

Vaccine trials were held at EVE’s facilities where it’s 40-strong team, founded by Dr John Hanger in 2009, has become a leader in koala health and management.

The vaccine’s approval by Australia’s veterinary medicine regulator is a major step in the fight against one of the greatest threats of the iconic marsupial.

UniSC researchers, led by Professor of Microbiology Peter Timms, worked for more than 10 years to save koalas from chlamydia, which causes painful urinary tract infections, infertility, blindness and even fatalities.

Antibiotics were the only treatment for infected koalas, but they can disrupt a koala’s digestion of eucalyptus leaves – its sole food source – leading to starvation and in some cases death.

“UniSC knew a single-dose vaccine – without the need for a booster - was the answer to reducing the rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across wild populations,” Professor Timms said.

“Some individual wild colonies, where infection rate can be as high as 70 percent, are edging closer to extinction every day.

“We were determined to do the hard yards to move from research to this vital next stage – a high-quality, veterinary-approved product that can now be used in wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics and in the field to protect the nation’s most at-risk koalas."

EVE veterinarian Julian Grosmaire said is "hopeful we can provide wildlife hospitals with the vaccine they can use on wild koalas and once they have been treated for chlamydia, return them to the wild and stay healthy.

“I’ll take anything to save these koalas from extinction and chlamydia is such an awful disease to experience," he said.

“You have to stay hopeful if you are working with koalas. We see continued habitat loss, fragmentation, compounding threats so having a new tool with the vaccine is a positive story.”

Dr Terri Irwin AM said Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is “honoured to contribute to trials of a potential vaccine for koalas affected by chlamydia.

"Together, we are turning the tide for koalas, and Wildlife Warriors is proud to be part of this important work in wildlife conservation,” she said.

A decade of clinical data, gathered through multiple vaccination trials – including the largest and longest study of wild koalas - confirmed the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

UniSC Senior Researcher Dr Sam Phillips said the study "found it reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during breeding age and decreased mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65 percent.

“The vaccine has been trialled on hundreds of wild koalas, others in captivity and wildlife hospitals, and over multiple generations.

“It’s based on Chlamydia pecorum’s major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and offers three levels of protection – reducing infection, preventing progression to clinical disease, and, in some cases, reversing existing symptoms.”

But, Professor Timms said there was still much to be done – including securing funding and donations to enable the national rollout of the approved vaccine to vulnerable populations.

Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt said the government had invested $76 million into Saving Koalas Fund.

State Minister for Tourism Andrew Powell said $39.6 million had been given to expand protected areas in this state and $39.6 million for new wildlife hospitals, including one in Moreton Bay.

The vaccine is being produced in partnership with the independent Australian-owned animal health company Tréidlia Biovet.

It uses an adjuvant originally developed by the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), the International Vaccine Institute, the University of British Colombia and Dalhousie University, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Other collaborators include Morris Animal Foundation, Rane Pharma, Canada and global animal health company Ceva Santé Animale who leveraged complementary expertise to overcome hurdles to help bring the project to its final stages.

It also provided funding through its Ceva Wildlife Research Fund.