Evaluation of Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein vaccine a management tool in wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations

Sarah J. Simpson; Damien P. Higgins; Peter Timms; Alana Kidd; Mathew S. Crowther; Valentina S. A. Mella; Samuel Phillips; Mark B. Krockenberger

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-13296-6

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Evaluation of Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein vaccine a management tool in wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations

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Evaluation of Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein vaccine a management tool in wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations

Sarah J. Simpson, Damien P. Higgins, Peter Timms, Alana Kidd, Mathew S. Crowther, Valentina S. A. Mella, Samuel Phillips and Mark B. Krockenberger

Scientific Reports, Vol.15, pp.1-13

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13296-6

PMCID: PMC12368024

PMID: 40835871

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Abstract

infectious diseases

inflammation

vaccines

Chlamydiosis is a significant disease affecting Eastern Australian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), contributing to the decline of some koala populations, necessitating investigations into appropriate management strategies to address chlamydiosis in wild koala populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a Chlamydia pecorum recombinant Major Outer Membrane Protein (rMOMP) vaccine as a potential strategy for managing chlamydiosis at a population level. This study comprised a blinded, randomised placebo-controlled trial, encompassing different koala populations where chlamydiosis is having differing effects. Wild koalas were recruited into a vaccination or a placebo treatment group and followed for 12 months, with recapture and resampling at 2, 6 and 12 months post vaccination. Vaccination stimulated a significant plasma anti-MOMP IgG response and greater IL-17 and TNFα mRNA fold change from rMOMP stimulated leukocytes, however, did not boost pre-existing immune responses, from natural infection, in koalas. The observed immunological stimulation did not translate to any effect on chlamydiosis or chlamydial shedding in our study populations. These findings highlight the necessity of improving our understanding of what constitutes a protective immune response in koalas to guide the development of a more effective vaccine. This study evaluated the estimated effect of vaccination necessary to achieve management outcomes predicted by modelling studies. It is possible that vaccination has a more modest effect and could benefit koala populations with a lower disease prevalence or be useful in conjunction with additional management strategies.

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Title: Evaluation of Chlamydia pecorum major outer membrane protein vaccine a management tool in wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations
Authors: Sarah J. Simpson (Corresponding Author) - The University of Sydney
Damien P. Higgins - The University of Sydney
Peter Timms - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
Alana Kidd - The University of Sydney
Mathew S. Crowther - The University of Sydney
Valentina S. A. Mella - The University of Sydney
Samuel Phillips - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
Mark B. Krockenberger (Corresponding Author) - The University of Sydney
Publication details: Scientific Reports, Vol.15, pp.1-13
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-13296-6
ISSN: 2045-2322
PMID: 40835871; PMC12368024
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study is available from the corresponding author upon request. There are no restrictions on data availability.
Grant note: The Koala Health Hub is supported by a grant from Wildlife Research Information and Education Service (WIRES). This work was supported by the NSW Government through the NSW Koala Research Strategy (Project number KR-2019_07 and KR-2022_01) and the Cumberland Plains Conservation Plan.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991155728802621
Output Type: Journal article

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