Australia approves chlamydia vaccine for koalas

A koala joey lies on an X-ray table during a comprehensive medical examination at the University of Sydney Wildlife Health and Conservation Hospital in Sydney on October 1, 2024. [AFP]

Australian regulators have approved a chlamydia vaccine for koalas, researchers said Wednesday, as they seek to stamp out a sexually transmitted disease responsible for about half of all deaths of the fluffy marsupial in the wild.

For a decade, scientists at the University of the Sunshine Coast trialled the chlamydia vaccine in controlled settings.